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GAELIC FOLK
TALES
ADAPTED FROM THE THREE SAGA CYCLES OF
GAELIC MYTHOLOGY, AND DESIGNED
AS SUPPLEMENTARY SCHOOL
READING
REVISED EDITION
With Foot Notes
MARY GRANT O’SHERIDAN
CHICAGO, U.S.A.
THE HENNEBERRY COMPANY
1910
•I
.0 zz
G
COPYRIGHT 1909
BY
MARY GRANT O’SHERIDAN
©CLA252S94
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
TO THE MEMORY OF MY
PATERNAL GRANDFATHER
"John Raymond O' Sheridan
whose beautiful Gaelic hand-
writing inspired me even
when a little child with a
longing and love for the liter-
ature of my Gaelic ancestors.
MARY GRANT O’SHERIDAN
.
Foreword
This little book is but a glimpse of a fairy structure
whose beauty has no peer, and whose antiquity antedates
all others of its kind, except the Hellenic. I have chosen
it out of that which Julius Pokarney calls “a fresh foun-
tain of lore and legend, almost inexhaustible, belonging
to the Gaels, to the Irish Gaels.” To Mr. Michael O’Gal-
lagher and Mr. David Ryan Twomey of the Gaelic Soci-
ety of Chicago, I am indebted for kindest assistance in
writing the notes. My book is but a wee “chraoibhin,”
yet I hope to see the time of its blossom and fruitage.
How can I better express myself than in the beautiful
lines of Ethna Carbery:
“O little green bud, break and blow into flower,
Break and blow through the welcome of sunshine and shower;
’Twas a long night and dreary you hid there forlorn,
But now the cold hills wear the radiance of morn!
O wind-drifted branch, lift your head to the sun,
For the sap of new life in your veins hath begun!”
— Mary Grant O’Sheridan.
Chraoibhin [Cree veen] : A branch.
t
INDEX.
The Quest of the Eric Fine 7
The Fate of the Children of Lir 60
The Ard Righ of Eire 83
'Deirdre, or the Fate of the Sons of Usnach. . .118
^Oisin's Tale of Tir-na-n-og 154
v The Pursuit of the Gilla Dacker 174
The Fairy Palace of the Quicken Trees 21 1
.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF STORIES
CONTAINED IN THIS BOOK
By
MICHAEL O’GALLAGHER,
Member of the Gaelic Society of Chicago.
The Quest of the Eric Fine, The Children of Lir and
Deirdre, under the names of The Fate of the Children of
Tuireann, The Fate of the Children of Lir and The Fate of the
Sons of Usnach have been famous from the earliest time of
which any written record remains, as the “Three Sorrows of
Story-telling.”
The exact period when these stories were first put into writ-
ing is not easy to determine. Douglas Hyde, speaking of
these and other early tales, says: “There is not a trace of their
authorship remaining, if authorship be the right word for what
I suspect to be the gradual growth of race, tribal and family
history and of Celtic mythology told and retold and polished up
and added to; some of them, especially such as are the descend-
ants of a pagan mythology, must have been handed down for
perhaps countless generations; others recounted historical, tribal
or family transactions magnified during the course of time,
others again of more recent date, are perhaps fairly accurate
accounts of actual events, but all prior to the year 650.” Until
the time when they were written down stories were transmitted
from generation to generation orally. It was the business of
the bards or Ollamhs (Olafs) of Ireland to learn and recite
its poems and sagas. The course of study for a Gaelic Ollamh
of Eire was twelve years. In this time he was compelled to
learn 350 romances and these he was supposed to be able to
“synchronize and harmonize,” else says the Book of Leinster,
“he is no poet.” Vallencey tells us that an Ollamh had a dis-
tinctive dress of five colors and wore a white mantle and a
blue cap ornamented with a gold crescent. Eugene O’Curry,
one of the greatest Irish scholars of the last century, states in
his magnificent work: “Manuscript Materials of Irish History,”
that the “Three Sorrows of Story-telling” were committed to
writing before the year 1000 A. D. Very few manuscripts of
an earlier date now remain. This is not to .be wondered at
when it is remembered that during the Danish invasions, lasting
from the end of the eighth until the early part of the eleventh
century, the monasteries, schools and libraries were the chief
points of attack and all manuscripts — there were no printed
books at this time — were again and again destroyed.
Later, under English rule, the possession of an Irish manu-
script by an Irishman was conclusive proof of treason and re-
bellion. The “dangerous” books were hidden, buried in holes in
the earth; built into crevices in walls, even cast into the lakes
and rivers. So it comes to pass that but comparatively few of the
great mass of manuscripts known to have existed in ancient
times have come down to our day; and the story of the re-
covery and preservation of those that remain would be found
almost as interesting as any of the stories they themselves pre-
serve.
The Ard Righ of Eire: The story is found in Leabhar na
h-Uidhre, under the name “Togbhail Bruighne Da Derga,” the
taking or conquest of the palace of Da Derga. Leabhar na
h-Uidhre means the “Book of the Dun Cow.” It is so called
because the original book was written on vellum made from
the hide of a celebrated cow of a dun color, which belonged to
Saint Kiaran, of Clonmacnoise. The original book is lost. The
volume now in existence is said to be a transcript of the
original and was made in Clonmacnoise in the early part of
the twelfth century. The story itself is considered to have a
substantial basis of history; the principal incidents, the attack
on and the destruction of the palace and the death of the king,
Conaire, are regarded as real happenings. Exact fac-simile
copies of Leabhar na h-Uidhre, the Book of Leinster, the Book
of Ballymote and other famous Irish records may be seen in
the Art Room of the Chicago Public Library.
The other three stories, Oisin in Tir-na-n-Og, The Pursuit
of the Gilla Dacker and The Fairy Palace of the Quicken
Trees were great favorites among storytellers, but are not
found in any ancient manuscripts. The oldest forms in which
they are found appear to have been written about the thirteenth
or fourteenth century.
Leabhar na h-Uidhre [Lyow’-ar na heer'-ya]
Togbhail Bruighne Da Derga LThog'-awl Breena Dhaw Dyar'-ga]
The Quest of the Eric Fine
CHAPTER I.
IDDEN away in the hills of the beautiful
island of Eire, there dwell to-day a
fairy people called the Sidhe. In
olden times, before the enchantment
fell upon them, these people were
large of stature and comely of fea-
ture; skilled in the arts of war and peace; lovers
of beauty, of freedom and of song.
The name by which they were called was
Tuatha De Danann. They came with their king,
Nuada, to Eire and fought the Firbolgs, the peo-
ple who at that time inhabited the island, and
being victorious they took possession. But in
their last great encounter, the battle of Magh
Tuireadh, a Firbolg warrior cut off the hand of
Nuada the De Danann king.
The loss of his kingship went with that of his
hand; for no one with a personal blemish could
Eric : restitution. Eire [Ar'-ya] : Name of Ireland in the Gaelic lang-
uage. Sidhe [She]: Fairies. Tuatha De Danann [Thoo' aha Da
Dan ' ann] : The tribes of the God Danu ; the gods of the pagan Irish.
Nuada [Noo' ah]. Firbolgs [Feer' bolgs], Magh Tuireadh [Maw
Tu' rah] : Battle fought, according to the annals of the Four Masters,
between the Tuatha De Danann and the Fomorians in the year of the
world 3330 on a field in the County Sligo.
7
8
GAELIC FOLK TALES
be a sovereign of the Tuatha De Danann. The
people chose in his stead Breas, whose mother
was a De Danann and whose father was Balor,
king of the Lochlanns, called by the Tuatha De
Danann “Fomorians” or sea robbers.
Now the Fomorians had a foothold in Eire, and
had for a long time exacted tribute from the peo-
ple and otherwise oppressed and harassed them.
Breas, on becoming king, proved a true Fomorian
outdoing all others in unjust and niggardly deeds ;
until so great was the burden imposed upon the
people by him that, after a year of secret meet-
ings and discussions on the part of eminent De
Dananns, he was deposed. Then Nuada, for
whom a silver hand had been made, was again
given the kingship. And thenceforth he was
known as Nuada of the Silver Hand.
At this, time each year in the island of Eire,
the De Dananns were compelled to pay taxes to
the Fomorians. There were taxes on kneading
troughs, querns, and baking flags; and also an
ounce of gold for each one of their number. If
any one neglected or refused to pay, his nose was
cut off by the Fomorian tyrants.
When Nuada had again become ruler of Eire,
and the time of tax paying drew near, he called
Breas [Brass]. Balor [Bah 'lor]. Loch'lanns: Scandinavians.
Querns [kwams] : stone hand mills for grinding com. The pictures
in Century Dictionary are taken from querns in the Dublin Museum.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
9
a great fair-meeting on the hill of Usna, the place
where the people came to pay. Also, Nuada sent
for his friend and councillor, Lugha the Ildana, to
attend the fair-meeting.
And after a great multitude of people had as-
sembled from near and far, they saw a band of
warriors mounted on white steeds coming toward
them from the east. At their head rode a young
champion, tall and comely, with a countenance
bright and glorious as the setting sun. This was
the king’s friend, the Ildana; and the troop
he led was the Fairy Host from the Land of
Promise.
He rode the steed of Manannan Mac Lir,
Enbar of the flowing mane. No warrior was
ever killed on the back of this steed, for she was
as swift as the clear, cold wind of spring; and,
she traveled with equal ease on land or sea.
-Lugha wore Manannan’s coat of mail; no one
could be wounded through it, or above it, or be-
low it. He had on Manannan’s breast-plate,
which no weapon could pierce. In the front of
his helmet were two glittering precious stones;
and one shone from the back. Also, at his left
side hung ManannaiTs sword, “The Answerer” ;
Usna [Oos ' na] : This hill is in Westmeath, about ten milesjfrom Ath-
lone, the center of Eire. Lugha the Ildana [Loo' ah the El dan 'ah]:
The All-Knowing-One; the Gaelic Apollo. Manannan Mac Lir
[Man'-na-nan Mac Leer]: Son of the Sea; the Gaelic Neptune.
10
GAELIC FOLK TALES
and whenever he took off his helmet his face
glowed like the sun on a dry day in summer.
Hardly were the greetings of the king and the
Ildana over when another company was seen ap-
proaching the hill of Usna. Nine times nine
surly, Fomorian tax-gatherers were coming to
demand their yearly tribute from the men of Eire.
When they reached the place where the king
sat, the entire assembly — the king included — rose
up before the tax-gatherers. Then the Ildana
spoke to the king and said: “Why hast thou,
O King, arisen before this hateful looking com-
pany ?”
“We dare not do otherwise” answered the king,
“for if even an infant a month old should remain
seated before them, they would deem it good
cause for killing us all.”
Lugha, the Ildana, brooded over this in silence
for a while, and then he said: “Of a truth, I feel
a great desire to kill all these men!”
“Thy deed would only bring evil upon us,” said
King Nuada, “for then the Fomorians would
send an army to destroy us all.”
Nevertheless the Ildana, vowing that the peo-
ple should no longer be oppressed, started up and
rushing upon the Fomorians dealt red slaughter
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
11
among them. Neither did he hold his hand until
he had slain them all except nine. These he
spared because they had implored the protection
of the king.
After Lugha had put his sword back into its
scabbard, he said to the nine living tax-collectors :
“I would slay you also ; did I not wish you to go
and tell your king and all the nations what you
have seen this day in Eire.
The nine men then returned to their own coun-
try. When they had told their story, King Balor
of the mighty Blows asked them the name of the
warrior who had wrought such woe to his
Fomorians.
“Behold, O Kin g,” said they, “on the hill of
Usna, in Eire, by the hand of a single man hath
our number been thus diminished; but the name
of the champion we cannot tell thee.”
But Kethlenda, the Queen, said: “This must
be the Ildana. It has been foretold that he would
oppose our sway in Eire.”
King Balor then called a council of the Fomor-
ians. Among those who came to his palace of
Berva were Luath, the story teller; Sotal of the
large heels, Tinna of Triscadel; Loskina of the
bare knees; Lobas the Druid; and also the nine
Kethlenda [Kell'yan] ; Inniskillen is named for this Queen. Berva
[Bar'vah]. This place is constantly spoken of in Irish Folk Tales
as the chief stronghold of the Lochlanns. It is believed by some to
be the same as the modern Bergen in Norway. Luath [Loo 'ah].
12
GAELIC FOLK TALES
prophetic poets and philosophers of the Fomor-
ians.
They could not decide what to do until Breas,
the son of Balor, bitter with the thought of his
banishment from the throne of Eire, arose and
said : “l will go to Eire with seven great battal-
lions of the Fomorian army; and I will give battle
to Ildana ; and I will bring his head to the palace
of Berva.”
All the chiefs agreed to have him go.
Ships were made ready for the ocean voyage.
Their seams were calked with pitch, and filled
with sweet smelling frankincense. Abundant
food and war stores were also provided.
When the fighting men had been gathered to-
gether, they arrayed themselves in battle dress
and set out for Eire.
As they were about to embark, Balor said:
'When your work of conquest is over, put your
cables around this island of Eire and tie it to the
sterns of your ships, and take it to the northern
side of Lochlann and there leave it. Then will it
give us no more trouble.”
Breas and his batallions hoisted their many col-
ored sails, loosed their moorings and were wafted
out upon the wide sea. They did not slacken
Sotal [Sut'tle]. Tris' ca del. Loskina [Lus' kin na]. Druid,
in Gaelic Draoi [Dhree]; Tree worshipers; a class set apart and con-
secrated to religion and the preservation of genealogies. All civil
rights were based on the patriarchal system.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
13
speed until they reached the harbor of Eas Dara.
Here they landed and immediately began to spoil
and waste the province of Olnecmacht, where
Bove Derg was king.
Eas [Ahs] : Waterfall. Harbor of Eas Dara is found on Ptolomy’s map.
See New Ireland Review, Vol. 26. Olnecmacht: Very ancient
name of Connacht.
14
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER II.
The news of what they had done came to the
Ildana at Teamhair; so the following morning
early, when the point of night met day, he de-
parted on his steed, Enbar of the flowing mane,
and rode westward toward the palace of Bove
Derg.
He had not traveled far when he saw, at a
distance, three warriors fully armed riding
toward him. These men were Kian, Ku and
Kethen, the sons of Canta. Kian was Lugha’s
father, and when they met they saluted each other,
and Kian asked his son why he was thus speeding
toward the west.
“I am going to give battle to the Fomorians,
for they have wasted the kingdom of Bove Derg.”
When the warriors heard this they said :
“We will go to battle with you, and each of us will
ward off a hundred Fomorians.”
“But first,” said the Ildana, “I wish you to sum-
mon the Fairy Host to fight with me.”
This the sons of Canta with one accord con-
sented to do, and forthwith they separated. Ku
and Kethen fared south; while Kian rode north-
ward until he came to Magh Murthemna.
Teamhair [Tow'er]: present Tara. Kian [Key' an]. Ku [Kuh].
Kethen [Ka' yenn]. Canta [Kant' yah], Magh Murthemna:
[Maw Mur hey' na].
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
15
As he journeyed over the plain he met the three
sons of Tuireann: Brian, Ur and Urcar, who
were at deadly feud with the three sons of Canta.
“If my brothers were with me now, we should
have a brave fight, but as I am only one against
three it is better to avoid the combat,” thought
Kian. Looking around he saw a herd of swine
near by, so he struck himself with a golden, druid-
ical wand, and turned himself into a pig.
No sooner had he done this than Brian said
to his brothers : “Tell me, my brothers, what has
become of the warrior that we saw just now ap-
proaching us on the plain ?”
“We have seen him” they answered, “but we
know not whither he has gone.”
“Well, I can tell you what has happened to the
warrior, “said Brian. “He has changed himself
by a druidical spell into a pig; and is now among
yonder herd ; and, whoever he may be, one thing
is sure : he is no friend of ours.”
“This is an unlucky matter,” said the brothers,
“for even if we should kill the entire herd of
pigs, the enchanted one might escape.”
“There is but one thing to do,” said Brian, and
then he struck his brothers with his golden, druid-
ical wand, and turned them into two fleet, slender
Tuireann [Ther'an], Brian [Bree' an].
16
GAELIC FOLK TALES
sharp-nosed hounds. The moment he had done
this, the hounds put their noses to the earth and
set off toward the pigs.
When the druidical pig saw them coming, it
made toward a thick spinney that grew near by.
But Brian was there before him and drove a spear
through its chest. The pig screamed and said:
“You have done an ill deed to cast your spear at
me, for you know very well who I am.”
“Your voice, methinks, is the voice of a man,”
said Brian, “but I know not who you are.”
“I am Kian, the son of Canta,” said the pig,
“and I pray you give me quarter.”
Brian’s brothers had regained their own shapes
by this time and they said: “Quarter you shall
have indeed, and we are very sorry for what has
happened you.”
But Brian stepping between them said: “I
swear by the gods of the air, that if your life re-
turned to you seven times, yet would I take it
from you seven times.”
“Then,” said Kian, “since you will not grant
me quarter, allow me first to return to my own
shape.”
“That I will grant you,” said Brian, “for I
often find it easier to kill a man than to kill a pig.”
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE 17
Kian, accordingly, took his own shape. Then
he said to the sons of Tuireann: “You are indeed
about to slay me; but, even so, I have outwitted
you. If you had slain me in the shape of a pig
you would have had to pay only the eric-fine for
a pig, whereas, now that I am in my own shape
you shall pay the full eric-fine for a man. And
never has there been so great a fine as that which
you shall pay.”
Nevertheless, Brian and his brothers slew Kian
and they buried him a man’s height in the earth.
But the earth, being angry at their wicked deed,
refused to keep the body. Not until they had
buried it the seventh time did it remain in the
ground. When the last turf was laid, and they
turned to go away, a voice spoke from the earth
saying :
“The blood you have spilled,
The hero you have killed,
Shall follow your steps ’till the doom be fulfilled.”
Lugha, the Ildana, meanwhile, had traveled
westward until he reached Ath-Luan; and then
the Curlieu hills ; and finally came to the
mountain of Kesh-Corran and the great plain of
the assembly, where the foreigners were en-
Ath Luan [Aw Loo' an]: Present town of Athlone.
in County Sligo.
Curlieu hills :
18
GAELIC FOLK TALES
camped with the spoils of Olnecmacht around
them.
As Lugha drew near the Fomorian encamp-
ment, Breas, the son of Balor, arose and said he:
“A wonderful thing has come to pass this day,
for the sun, it seems to me, has risen in the west !”
“It would be better were it so,” said the Druids,
“but the light you see is the brightness of the
face, and the flashing of the weapons of Lugha,
the Ildana, our deadly enemy; he who slew our
tax-gatherers.”
By this time the Ildana had come up to them,
and he peacefully saluted them.
“How comes it that you salute us,” said they,
“since you are, as we well know, our enemy?”
“Enemy though you think me, I am now come
in peace and good will to ask you to send back to
the people of Bove Derg all the milch cows which
you have taken from them.”
“May ill luck follow thee until thou get one of
them,” said the Fomorian leaders in loud, angry
voices.
But, nevertheless, the Ildana straightway put
a druidical spell upon the plundered cattle and
sent every milch cow home to the door of her
owner's house.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
19
Before the Fomorians could recover from their
surprise, the Fairy Host arrived. They placed
themselves under the Ildana’ s command; and they
made ready for the fight.
The Ildana put on Manannan’s coat of mail
and his breast-plate. He took also his helmet
which is called Cannbar; and his broad, dark-
blue shield he slung from one shoulder. His
sword hung from his thigh; and, in his hand he
grasped his two spears, tempered in the blood
of adders.
When the chiefs and men were all arrayed in
battle rank, hedges of glittering spears rose high
above their heads. Their shields, placed edge to
edge, formed a firm fence around them. They
advanced against the Fomorians, and the Fomor-
ians, in no degree dismayed, answered their on-
set.
Clouds of whizzing javelins flew through the
air; spears were shivered; and, from the gold-
hilted swords a forest of bright flames arose, as
they clashed above the helmets.
When finally Breas was compelled to sue for
quarter from the Ildana, all the Fomorians
dropped their arms and came to him to ask him
to spare their lives.
20
GAELIC FOLK TALES
The Ildana said to them: “I do not wish to
slay you ; return, you and your leader to your own
country; and there relate the deeds of prowess
you have seen in Eire.” So they departed.
Lugha missed his father, Kian, in the fight.
“My father is not alive,” said he, “for if he lived
he would surely have come to help me in the bat-
tle. And now I swear that neither food nor
drink will I take until I find his slayer and the
manner of his death.”
Accordingly he set out with a small band, and
hastened to the plain of Murthemna, where Kian
had been forced to take the shape of a pig.
And it chanced that they came to the very spot
where Kian had been slain. Then the stones of
the earth spoke beneath their feet saying: “Here
lies thy father, O Ildana! Grievous was Kian's
strait when he was forced to take the shape of a
pig, on seeing the three sons of Tuireann.
And on this very spot they slew him in his own
shape.
“The blood they have spilled ;
The hero they have killed,
Shall darken their lives ’till the doom be fulfilled.”
Then the Ildana caused a stone to be raised
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
21
above his father’s grave, and his name engraved
in Ogham. After this his lamentation lays were
sung and his funeral games performed.
Then the Ildana and his followers went to
Teamhair. They entered the banqueting hall
where the king and his nobles were assembled.
The Ildana, looking around the hall, saw the
three sons of Tuireann seated among the others.
He hastened to exchange greetings with Nuada,
the king. Then he asked the royal permission
that the chain of silence might be shaken. When
the silver music of the bells had died away, and all
were listening, Lugha, the Ildana, stood up and
said : “O gracious nobles of the De Danann race,
I perceive that you have given me your attention ;
and now, I have a question to put to each man
here present: What vengeance should be taken
for the murder of a father?”
All were filled with amazement to hear the
Ildana ask this question. Then the King’s voice
broke the deep silence: “Explain thy meaning.
Why hast thou put this question to us? Surely,
as we all know, thy father has not been killed.”
“My father has indeed been killed,” said the
Ildana, and I now see here in this hall those who
slew him. And furthermore, I know the manner
Ogham [O' am]: The most ancient manner of writing or making records
known to Gaels of Eire. There are many stones inscribed in Ogham
still extant.
22
GAELIC FOLK TALES
in which they put him to death; even as they
themselves know it.”
The sons of Tuireann hearing all this said
nothing. But the king declared that if anyone
had willfully slain Kian he should atone for the
deed with his life.
Each noble said the same ; as did also the sons
of Tuireann.
“The persons who slew my father are here
present, and are joining with the rest in this judg-
ment” said the Ildana. “Let all bear witness
that my claim is just and honorable when I de-
mand, not their lives, but that they shall pay to
me a certain eric-fine.”
Then Brian arose and said: “It is of me thou
speakest, O Ildana, for it has been said that the
three sons of Tuireann have been at enmity with
the three sons of Canta. We shall not say
whether we have slain thy father or not ; but, we
are willing to pay an eric-fine even as if we had
killed him.”
“I shall accept the eric-fine from you” said the
Ildana, “and I now name before this assembly the
fine I ask: The first part is three apples; the
second part, the skin of a pig; the third part a
spear; the fourth two steeds and a chariot; the
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE 23
fifth seven pigs; the sixth a hound whelp; the
seventh a cooking spit, and the eighth three
shouts on a hill. This is my eric-fine O sons of
Tuireann, and it will be for you to set about
paying it without delay.”
“We do not deem thy eric-fine too great, Ildana,
but we fear some hidden snare in what you ask,”
said Brian.
“The fine I have named, and that only, will sat-
isfy me for the death of my father” replied the
Ildana. “Moreover, I demand that we enter into
a covenant, namely : I not to increase my claim ;
thou to pay the full fine required of thee.”
So they bound themselves on either side ; and the
king and nobles of Eire were witnesses and sure-
ties of the bond.
Then the Ildana, arising, said : “Listen, O sons
of Tuireann, the three apples I ask are the three
apples of the garden of ITisberna in the western
end of the world — and no other will I have. Their
color is the color of burnished gold, and they have
the taste of honey. A champion possessing one of
them may perform with it any feat he pleases, by
merely casting it from his hand. Nor will he lose
the apple for it will return again to him of it-
self. The pig’s skin I seek belongs to the king of
Hisberna: Hesperides.
24
GAELIC FOLK TALES
Greece. This magical skin will turn water into
wine. It will also heal all the sick and wounded
people who touch it. The spear which ye must
bring me is the venomed spear of Pezar, king of
the East. In the time of peace, its blazing, fiery
head is always kept in a caldron of water to pre-
vent it from burning down the king’s palace. In
time of war its bearer is invincible. The two
steeds and the chariot belong to Dobar, king of
Segar. With these steeds and chariot, one travels
as well on the sea as on the land. The seven pigs I
demand belong to the king of the Golden Pillars.
Though these pigs should be killed and eaten to-
day, they will be alive and well tomorrow. The
hound whelp belongs to the king of Iroda. His
name is Failinis; and all beasts of the forest fall
powerless before him. The cooking spit belongs
to the warlike women of Fincara. They are thrice
fifty in number, and each of them is a match for
three good warriors in single combat. These
women of Fincara have never been known to
give a cooking spit to anyone without being first
overcome in battle. The hill on which you must
give three shouts is the hill of Midkenna in the
north of Lochlann. Midkenna and his sons al-
ways guard this hill, and are under geasa to
Failinis [Fawl'een ish]. Iroda [Er'oo ah]: Norway. Midkenna:
The ungentle; Gaelic: Meochavin [Mee' o keen], Geasa [gas'sah]:
mystical bonds or obligations, corresponding to the obligations under
which the knights of the middle ages placed themselves.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
25
allow no one to shout on it. And should you
procure all things that I have mentioned you
shall not, I think, succeed in shouting on the
hill; for, Midkenna and his sons were my fa-
ther's friends and loved him very much; and
they will be sure to avenge on you my father's
death."
The sons of Tuireann were so much astonished
on hearing this eric-fine, that they spoke not one
word ; but arose and left the meeting and repaired
to the house of their father.
26
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER III
Tuireann heard their story to the end; then he
said: “Your tidings are very bad, my sons. It
was an evil thing to kill Kian, and I fear you
are doomed to meet your death in seeking what
the Ildana demands. In the Boyne river, near
the palace of Angus, lies Manannan’s canoe,
“The Wave Sweeper.” Secure this canoe and
by its aid you may be able to reach Hisberna and
obtain the magic apples. So they set out for
Bruga of the Boyne; and with them was their
sister Eithne.
They found the canoe lying in the river.
Brian, stepping into it said: “It seems to me
there is room for but one more person beside my-
self in the canoe.” He began to complain bitterly
of its size; but ceased when Eithne told him that
the canoe would assume larger dimensions when
they came to try it. Eithne was aware that it
had the power of becoming large or small
according to the number of people who were to
sail in it.
After all preparations were over, the three
brothers bade their sister farewell and entered
the canoe. They found it large enough to hold
Bruga [Broo' ah]: A palace; Braga of the Boyne: The residence of
the chiefs of the Tuatha De Danann. Eithne [A' nah]. Canoe:
Gaelic [Kur' rah]. Manannan’s canoe: A cloud which becomes
larger or smaller, according to the number of raindrops in it.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
27
themselves and their arms, and everything else
they wished to take with them.
As they quickly sped across the deep sea
chasms and green-sided waves on their way to
Hisberna, they held council as to what course
they would pursue in their quest for the golden
apples.
Brian spoke; and said he: “Let us take the
shape of strong, swift hawks; then, as we ap-
proach the garden, let us have a care for the
light, sharp lances of the guards. These lances
the guards will certainly hurl at us. We must
avoid them actively and cunningly; and when
they have no more left to throw, let us swoop
down and fetch away an apple each.”
To this they all agreed. Changing themselves
into three beautiful hawks they flew swiftly over
the tops of the trees.
The sharp-eyed guards perceived them, and
with great shouting and clamor hurled venomed
darts at them. But the hawks escaped, every one.
When there were no more darts to throw,
fluttering their wings above the baffled guards,
the hawks flew into the trees. After resting a
moment, they rose in the air again unhurt and
happy. The younger brothers carried off an
28
GAELIC FOLK TALES
apple apiece; but Brian brought two with him;
one in his talons, and one in his beak.
The king of Hisberna and his people were very
angry, on discovering that the hawks had car-
ried off their apples. A council, was called to
consider how best the deed might be avenged.
Now the king’s three daughters were skilled
in magic; and cunning in council. So it was
finally determined that they should transform
themselves into three swift, winged griffins and
pursue the hawks over the sea.
Immediately then, they hastened away. From
their eyes and beaks they let fly bright flashes
of flame to blind and scorch the hawks.
“Evil is our state,” now said the two younger
brothers as they beheld their most beautiful wing
feathers crisping and crumbling in smoky dust
through the heated air — “evil indeed is our state
and we will surely perish if we do not get
relief.”
“It is my good fortune still to have power to
change our forms,” said Brian. Then, by his
druidical magic, he instantly turned himself and
his brothers into swans, and they all dropped
down on to the sea.
The griffins, no longer beholding the hawks
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
29
before them, gave up the chase, and the sons of
Tuireann, without further delay, went to their
canoe fetching their apples with them.
Then they set sail again and glided swiftly and
smoothly over the waters until they came to
Greece. And when they had landed, Brian said
to his brothers: “In what shape, think you,
should we go to the king’s court?”
“We think it best to go in our own shapes,”
answered the others, “that is to say as three bold
champions.”
“Not so,” said Brian, “to me it seems best that
we should go in guise of learned poets from Eire,
for poets are held in much honor by the nobles
of Greece.” “How shall we do that?” asked the
brothers, “for as to poems, we neither have any
with us, nor do we know how to compose them.”
But Brian would not have it any other way,
so they consented, though unwillingly. They
tied up their hair after the manner of poets and
going directly to the palace knocked at the door.
The door-keeper asked who was there. “We are
skillful poets from Eire,” said Brian, and have
come to Greece with a poem for the king.”
The door-keeper departed to give the message.
“Let them be brought in,” said the king, “for
30
GAELIC FOLK TALES
it is to seek a good and bountiful master, whom
they may serve faithfully that they have come so
far from Eire.”
So they were shown into the banquet hall,
where the king sat surrounded by his nobles.
Bowing low they saluted him; and he in turn
saluted them. They joined the feast at once
and made merry as did the others. And they
thought they had never seen a banquet hall more
grand or a household so numerous and mirthful.
At the proper time the king's poets arose, and
according to custom recited their poems for the
company. When they had finished, Brian re-
quested attention for his poem, and, forthwith,
in clear, musical accents spoke the following
lines :
“To praise thee, O Tuis, we’ve come to this land.
Like an oak among shrubs, over kings thou dost stand.
The honor be ours thy great deeds to rehearse
And claim but a pig skin in pay for our verse.
Two neighbors shall war with an O to an O; —
A bard unrequited — how dreadful a foe !
Thy bounty shall add to my wealth and thy fame,
And the imnocta fessa is all that we claim.”
“Your poem would doubtless be thought very
good, if one were able to judge of it,” said the
Tuis (Toosh).
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
31
king. “But it is unlike all other poems I have
ever heard, and I do not in the least understand
its meaning.”
“Listen, while I unfold it then,” said Brian.
“To praise thee, O Tuis, we’ve come to this land;
Like an oak among shrubs, over kings thou dost stand.”
“This means that as the oak excels all other
trees of the forest, so dost thou excel all other
kings of the world for greatness, nobility and
generosity.”
“ Tmnocta fessa’ — Imnocta means skin ; fessa
means pig; that is to say, O King, thou hast the
skin of a pig which I desire to obtain from thee
as a guerdon for my poetry.”
“Two neighbors shall war with an O to an O;
A bard unrequited — how dreadful a foe.”
“O means an ear; that is to say, O King, thou
and I shall be ear to ear fighting with each other
for the skin, if thou give it not of thy own free
will. And this, O King, is the meaning of my
poem.”
“Thy poem would have been a very good one,
32 GAELIC FOLK TALES
and I should have given it due meed of praise, if
my pig skin had not been mentioned in it. It is
a foolish request of thine, O Ferdana, for even if
all the poets and men of science in Eire, and in
the whole world beside, were to demand that skin
from me I would refuse it. Nevertheless,” con-
tinued the king, “thou shalt not pass unrewarded,
for I will give thee thrice the full of the skin
of red gold: one portion for thyself, and one for
each of thy brothers.”
“Thy ransom is a good one, O King,” said
Brian, “but I am a near-hearted and suspicious
man, and I pray thee let me see with my own
eyes thy servants measure the gold ; lest they deal
unfairly with me.”
t The king granted his request, and the three
sons of Tuireann went with the servants to the
treasure room.
But no sooner had they begun to measure the
gold, than Brian, suddenly sprang toward them.
He dashed them fiercely to the ground; and
snatching the pig skin bound it hastily over his
shoulders.
Then the three sons of Tuireann drew their
keen swords and rushed into the banquet hall.
The king's nobles seeing how matters stood, sur-
Ferdan'a: Man of Poetry; Fer: man; Latin Vir; dan: poet.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
33
rounded and attacked them. But the sons of
Tuireann, nothing daunted by the number of
their foes, hewed down the foremost and scat-
tered the rest.
Scarcely one of the party escaped death or
deadly wounds. At last Brian and the King met
face to face and fought as great champions fight;
fought until the king of Greece fell by the over-
powering valor of the sons of Tuireann.
After the victory the three brothers rested in
the palace, and healed their wounds by means
of the apples and the pig-skin.
i At the end of three days and three nights they
started on their next adventure.
They went on board the canoe, and soon left
behind them the lovely shores of Greece. Across
the wide seas they swiftly sped, and finally landed
near the palace of Pezar, king of the East.
Having fared so well in their last undertak-
ing, they resolved to put on the guise of poets
this time also.
They tied their hair in the poet’s knot; and,
passing through the outer gate, knocked at the
door of the palace.
The door-keeper asked who they were; and
from what country they had come.
34
GAELIC FOLK TALES
“We are poets from Eire,” answered Brian,
“and we have brought a poem for the king.”
The door-keeper admitted them, and they were
conducted to the presence of the king. The king
welcomed them and seated them among the
nobles of his household. They joined in the
revelry of the banquet hall, and when the proper
time came, the king’s poets arose and chanted
their songs.
After all the poems had been rehearsed, and
the sounds of applause had ceased, Brian arose.
The king and nobles seeing him were silent and
listened while he recited his poem:
“In royal state may Pezar ever reign ;
Like some vast yew tree monarch of the plain.
May Pezar’s mystic javelin, long and bright,
Bring slaughter to his foes in every fight.
When Pezar fights and shakes his dreadful spear,
Whole armies fly ; and heroes quake with fear.
What shielded foe, what champion can withstand
The blazing spear in mighty Pezar’s hand !”
“Your poem is a good one,” said the king, “but
why do you make mention of my spear, without
having first obtained permission of me? Were
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
35
you not aware that it is not permitted to even
the greatest in my kingdom to speak of my spear,
unless I have first given him the privilege ?”
“This I knew not, O Pezar, and thy telling it
hath but increased the ardor of the wish which
hath inspired my song. For I desire thy blazing
spear, O Pezar, as a reward for my poem.”
“Your wish is a very foolish one,” said the
king. “No man ever escaped punishment if he
asked me for my spear. The highest reward I
could now grant you, and the greatest favor these
nobles could now obtain for you, is that I should
spare your life.”
Thereupon, Brian and his brothers started up
in great wrath and drew their swords. In like
manner, the king and his nobles drew their
swords, and they fought a deadly fight. But
Brian in the midst of the combat, drawing forth
one of his apples, cast it at the king, and he fell
pierced through the brain.
Then the frightened nobles fled, until no one
remained in the banquet hall but the sons of
Tuireann. They searched the palace for the
room where the spear was kept. At last they
found it with its head down deep in a great
caldron of water which hissed and bubbled
36
GAELIC FOLK TALES
around it. Brian, seizing it boldly in his hand,
drew it forth. Then the three brothers left the
palace and went to their canoe. There they re-
joiced together, because they had now succeeded
in securing three, parts of the eric-fine.
After resting some days, they set out to seek
for the steeds and the chariot of the King of
Segar, for this was the next part of the Ildana’s
eric fine.
Obedient to their command, the canoe glided
rapidly and smoothly over the green waves. At
last they landed on the wished-for shore; and
then Brian said: “In what shape, think you,
should we go to this court ?”
“Let us go,” said the others, “in our own
shapes, as three hostile champions, who have
come to get the chariot and steeds either by force
or by good will.”
“That is not what seems best to me,” said
Brian. “My council is that we go as soldiers
from Eire, willing to serve for pay. Then, should
the king take us into his service, it is likely we
shall find out where the chariot and the steeds
are kept.”
So, forthwith, as soldiers from Eire they went
to the palace.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
37
There the king was holding a fair-meeting on
the broad, level green of the palace park. When
the three warriors came near, the people made
way for them. They bowed low to the king;
and he asked them who they were and from
what part of the world they had come.
“We are valiant soldiers from Eire,” they an-
swered, “seeking service and pay among the
great kings of the world.”
“Do you wish to enter my service?” asked the
king.
“It is with that desire we have come to Segar,”
said they.
So they made a covenant with each other:
The king to place them in a post of honor and
trust. They to serve him faithfully and to name
their own reward.
They were placed in the ranks of King Dobar’s
body-guard. For a month and a fortnight they
remained in the palace, looking around, and care-
fully noting everything. However, they saw
nothing of the chariot and the steeds.
At the end of the fortnight, Brian said to his
brothers : “It fares ill with us here, my brothers,
for we know no more about the chariot and
steeds than we did the day we first came thither.
38
GAELIC FOLK TALES
Let us put on our travelling array and take our
arms of valor in our hands. In this fashion, let
us go before the king, and tell him that unless he
shows us the chariot and steeds we shall leave
his service.”
This they did without delay.
When they were come before the king, he
asked them why they had come into his presence
thus armed and in travelling guise.
“Of that we have come to tell thee, O king,”
answered Brian. “Heretofore the kings whom
we have served have trusted us with their secret
councils. We have been made the guardians of
their rarest jewels, and of gifted arms of victory.
But thou, O king, hast not even shown us thy
chariot and steeds, which we have heard exceed
in magnificence all the chariots and steeds in the
world.”
“A small thing it is that has caused you to
prepare for departure,” said the king, “and there
is, moreover, no need that you should leave my
service. You shall see the steeds this very day;
and you should have seen them before had I
known of your desire, for I have never had in
my service more trustworthy soldiers.”
The king then sent for the steeds and had them
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
39
yoked to the chariot. Those steeds that were as
fleet as the clear, cold wind of March, and that
traveled with equal speed on land and on sea!
Brian, viewing them narrowly, said: “Hear
me, O King of Segar! We have served thee
faithfully up to this time, and now we wish to
name our own pay, according to the covenant
thou hast made with us. The guerdon we de-
mand is yonder chariot and steeds. Give us these
and we shall ask for nothing more.”
But the king in great wrath, said: “Foolish
and luckless men, ye shall certainly die because
ye have asked for my steeds.”
The king and his warriors then drew their
swords and rushed toward the sons of Tuireann,
thinking to seize them. The attack was ex-
pected and a sore fight began. Suddenly, Brian
sprang with a bound into the chariot and, dash-
ing the charioteer to the ground, seized the reins
in his left hand. Then, raising the venomed
spear of Pezar in his right, he smote the king
with its fiery point, so that he fell to the ground
and expired. And when the red slaughter of the
fight was over, there was no one left to dispute
with the three brothers the possession of the char-
iot.
40
GAELIC FOLK TALES
Ur and Urcar asked where they should go
next.
“We shall go” said Brian, “to Asal, the king
of the Golden Pillars to ask for his seven pigs:
for this is the next part of the eric-fine.”
Therewith they started. As they drew near to
the land of the Golden Pillars they saw that the
shore was lined with men all armed, for the fame
of the deeds of the great champions of Eire
was being noised abroad through many lands:
How they had been forced to leave Eire by the
hard sentence of the Ildana, and how they were
seeking and bearing away the most precious
things of all the world's kingdoms to pay the
Ildana's eric-fine.
On account of these reports, the king of the
Golden Pillars had armed his people; and had
sent them to guard the harbors.
The king himself came down to the beach to
meet them. As soon as they were come within
speaking distance, he bade them stay their course.
Then he asked in angry tones if they were the
three champions from Eire ; they who had over-
come and slain so many kings.
Brian answered: “Be not displeased with us,
O king, for in all this matter we are not to blame.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
41
We must pay the eric-fine promised to the Ildana.
If the kings to whom he sent us had given us
peaceably the precious things we demanded, we
would have departed always in the same good
will as that in which we came. But, meeting ill
will and opposition, we have been compelled to
fight for the attainment of our end. Unwillingly,
indeed, have we fought, yet none so far have been
able to withstand us.”
'Tell me now” said the king, "What has
brought you to our country?”
"We have come for thy seven pigs” said Brian,
"for they are a part of our fine. Thou perchance
wilt have pity on our hardships, and give us these
pigs in token of kindness and friendship and not
compel us to fetch them away by force.”
On hearing this, the king and his people
went into council. After debating the matter,
they thought best to give the pigs peaceably, for
they feared they might not be able to resist the
power of the sons of Tuireann.
So the king invited the three champions to
his palace. They ate and drank and slept on
downy beds. When they arose the next morn-
ing, they were brought into the king’s presence,
and the pigs were given them. Then Brian, bow-
42
GAELIC FOLK TALES
in g low before the king spoke these words:
“Thanks for the guerdon thou hast given,
Great king of Sicily ;
Thy welcome unto Tuireann’s sons
Shall long remembered be.
And when our deeds in happier days
Shall bring us praise and fame
In Eire green shall poet lays
Commemorate thy name.”
“Whither go ye next, ye sons of Tuireann?”
asked Asal.
“We go.” answered Brian, “into Iroda, for
Failinis, the king's hound whelp.”
“My daughter is the king's wife,” said Asal,
“and I will go with you to Iroda, and may be able
to persuade him for her sake to give you the
hound whelp freely and without battle.”
“It gives me joy, O King, to accept your prof-
fered aid, for often in the struggles which I have
had heretofore in the quest for the eric-fine, I
have wished for the help of a strong and friendly
hand.”
King Asal wished the journey to be made in
his own ship; so he commanded his soldiers to
get it ready. Then all went on board, taking
with them much wealth.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
43
And it is not told how they fared until they
reached the kingdom of Iroda.
When they arrived, the shores were lined with
fierce, armed men, who were there by order of
the king to guard the harbor. These men
shouted to the crew of Asal’s ships a warning
to come no further. They well knew it could
be no other than the sons of Tuireann, bent on
acquiring that part of their eric-fine which was
the property of the king of Iroda.
“Stay here for a while and await my return,”
said King Asal, to the sons of Tuireann. “It is
best that I should go on shore alone and meet
my son-in-law.”
Accordingly he landed and went to the king,
who, after he had welcomed him, asked what had
brought the sons of Tuireann to his country.
“They have come for your hound whelp,”
answered King Asal, “and I beg you to give it
freely and without battle.”
“It was an evil council you followed when you
came with these men to my shores,” said the
king, “for no champions in all the world have
ever received from the gods strength and favor
sufficient to enable them to obtain possession of
44
GAELIC FOLK TALES
my hound whelp either by force or by my own
free wilL,,
“It will be unwise of you to refuse them,” re-
plied King Asal. “They have gifted arms, that
no warrior, however powerful, can withstand.
Numbers nor power can daunt them; and, having
your welfare at heart, I have come thither to ad-
vise you to give them your hound whelp in
peace.”
But King Asal’s words were only thrown away
on the king of Iroda and he angrily refused Asal’s
request, and spoke with scornful words of the
sons of Tuireann.
Asal, very much troubled because of the re-
sult of his talk with the king of Iroda, returned
to the ship where the sons of Tuireann were
anxiously awaiting him.
When they heard how matters stood, without
delay they put on their battle dress; and, taking
their arms in their hands, challenged the king of
Iroda and his people.
Then began a fierce and bloody battle. Though
nothing could stand before the sons of Tuireann,
yet the warriors of Iroda were many and very
brave.
During the course of the fight, the two younger
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
45
brothers became separated from Brian, and he
was completely surrounded by hostile champions.
But, when he wielded the blazing spear of Pezar
with its deadly point, his foes fled before him.
Well they knew it would be useless to resist the
venom of that dreadful spear.
At length, Brian spied the king of Iroda.
Bravely he was fighting; hedged round-a-bout by
shining spears.
Brian rushed through the thick of the battle
straight toward him, striking down spears and
swords and men as he went. The king saw him
coming, and commanded his men to fall back.
Then he and Brian fought like valiant warriors
hand to hand. Powerful, alert and fierce were
both, and it was long before any advantage was
gained on either side.
Brian seemed the more wrathful of the two;
yet he held back his hand, for he sought to tire
out his foe, not to slay him. The end of it all
was that Brian succeeded in seizing the king in
his strong arms. He lifted him ofif the ground
and bore him to where Asal stood. Then setting
him down he said: “Behold thy son-in-law. It
would have been easier three times over to have
46
GAELIC FOLK TALES
killed him than to have brought him to thee
alive/’
When the people saw their king a prisoner,
they ceased fighting and peace was made. Also,
the hound whelp was given over to the sons of
Tuireann. They then took their leave and sailed
away from the shores of Iroda in peace and
friendship with the King; and with Asal, his
father-in-law.
Meanwhile the Ildana was preparing for an-
other battle with the Fomorians; a battle which
should be known as the second battle of Magh
Tuireadh.
The great Leech, Diancecht; the skillful smith,
Goibnu; the Dagda and Ogma, — these were the
ones who met secretly with the Ildana to prepare
the plan of battle. They left nothing undone
which might help them to a victory over their
strong and vengeful foe.
By this time, Ku and Kethen, the sons of Canta
had returned. With them came the Fairy Host,
which they had marshalled together from every-
where in Eire.
But one thing more remained to be done: It
had been revealed to Lugha, the Ildana, that the
sons of Tuireann had now obtained all those
Diancecht [Dee ' yan Ka ' yacht]. Goibnu [Goin ' [coin] yu]. Dagda
[Daw' dah]. Ogma[0'ma]: gods of the Tuatha De Danann, the
chief of whom was the Dagda.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
47
parts of the eric-fine which he deemed necessary
to insure success in the approaching conflict.
So he sent after them a druidical spell, which
caused them, soon after they left Iroda, to for-
get the cooking spit and the three shouts on
Midkena’s hill, and filled them with great long-
ing to return to their native home.
Accordingly, they set sail without delay for
the shores of Eire, taking with them the parts
of the fine which they had already secured.
48
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER IV.
Now it happened that the Ildana was with the
king at a fair meeting on the plain before Team-
hair. And it was made known to him secretly
that the sons of Tuireann had landed at Bruga
of the Boyne.
He left the assembly, telling none, and went
directly to the fortress of Rath-ree ; and, closing
the gates and doors after himself, he put on the
smooth, Greek armor of Manannan MacLir and
the enchanted mantle of Flidas.
Soon after this the sons of Tuireann were seen
approaching. The multitude which was gathered
together at the fair-meeting flocked out to greet
them, and gazed with wonder at the many mar-
velous things they had brought.
When they had come to the royal tent, the
king joyfully welcomed them, and asked them if
they had brought the eric-fine.
“We have obtained it after much hardship and
danger, O King,” said they, “and now we wish
to know where Lugha is that we may deliver it
to him.”
The king told them that the Ildana was at the
Rath-ree [Raw ra']. Flidas [Flee'yhas]: one of the gods.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
49
assembly; but, though they searched everywhere
for him, he could not be found.
"I can surmise where he is,” said Brian, “It
has been made known to him that we have
come to Eire, bringing with us charmed, gifted
weapons that none can withstand, and he has
gone to one of the strongholds of Teamhair to
avoid us, fearing that we might use them against
himself.”
Messengers were then sent to the Ildana to
tell him that the sons of Tuireann had arrived,
and to ask him to come to the meeting, in order
that they might give him the fine.
But the Ildana said to the messengers : “I will
not go to the meeting yet awhile ; but go ye back
and tell the sons of Tuireann to give the fine to
the king for me.”
When the messenger returned with this
answer, the sons of Tuireann gave into the keep-
ing of the king all the wonderful things they had
collected in their journeys. After this the entire
company went into the palace, and in a little
while Lugha, the Ildana, having heard how mat-
ters stood, came also and the king gave him the
fine.
Lugha looked narrowly at everything that had
50
GAELIC FOLK TALES
been given up to him and said: “Here, indeed,
is an eric-fine sufficient to pay for any one that
ever yet was slain; or, that shall be slain until
the end of time! Yet, there is one kind of fine
that must be paid to the last farthing, namely:
an eric-fine — for it is not lawful to hold back
even the smallest part. And, moreover, O King,
thou and the Dedannans whom I see here present
are guarantees for the full payment of my eric-
fine.” Again Lugha looked narrowly at the
wonderful things which had been brought to
him from many lands, and said he: “I see here
the three apples; and the skin of the pig; and
the fiery headed spear; and the chariot and
steeds; and the seven pigs and the hound whelp.
But where, ye sons of Tuireann, is the cooking
spit of the women of Fincara? And I have not
heard that ye have given the three shouts on
Midkenna’s hill.”
On hearing this, the sons of Tuireann fell into
a faintness, like unto the faintness before death,
and when they had recovered they answered not
one word; but left the assembly and went to
their father’s house.
To their father and to their sister Eithne they
told all that had befallen them. And how now
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
51
they must set out upon another quest because
through the spells of Lugha they had forgotten
two parts of the eric-fine.
On hearing this Tuireann was overwhelmed
with grief and wept in great fear and sorrow.
The next morning, when the point of night
met day, Brian, Ur and Urcar accompanied by
their father and Eithne stood by the shore from
which they were once more to sail.
When their farewells were spoken, they em-
barked, determined never to return, unless bring-
ing with them the two forgotten parts of the fine.
It was no longer their privilege to use Manan-
nan’s canoe. In their own slower sailing, less
commodious — yet trustworthy ship they set sail
and sped forth over the green, billowy sea, in
search of the island of Fincara.
For four full moons they wandered hither and
thither; sailing with the billows; and against
them. On many shores they landed and inquired
of all they met; yet, they were unable to get the
least tidings of the island where the war-like
women dwelt.
At last they met a very old man, who told
them that he had heard of the island of Fincara
in the days of his youth. He said it lay not on
52
GAELIC FOLK TALES
the surface; but down deep in the waters, for it
was sunk beneath the waves, by a druidical spell,
in times long past.
Then Brian put on his water dress, with his
helmet of transparent crystal on his head. Tell-
ing his brothers to await his return, he leaped
over the side of the ship; and sank at once out
of sight.
He walked about for a fortnight down in the
green, salt sea, before he found the island of
Fincara.
He noticed that among many houses on the
island, one was larger and grander than the rest.
Straightway, he bent his steps toward this; and
finding it open entered.
In a large apartment, hung with gorgeous
tapestries, he saw a great number of beautiful
ladies busily employed at all sorts of embroidery
and needle work: and in their midst was a long,
bright cooking spit, lying on a table.
Without speaking a word, he walked straight
to the table; and, seizing the spit in one hand,
walked toward the door. The women neither
spoke nor moved. But each one had her eyes
fixed upon him from the moment he entered; ad-
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
53
miring his manly form, his beauty and his fear-
lessness.
But when they saw him about to walk off with
the spit, they all burst out laughing! One, who
seemed the chief among them said: “Thou hast
attempted a bold deed, O son of Tuireann. Dost
thou not know that there are thrice fifty war-like
women here ? Dost thou not know that the weak-
est among us would be able of herself alone to
prevent thee taking this cooking spit — even if
thy brothers were here to help thee?”
“Thou art a brave and noble champion; else,
thou wouldst not have attempted to take the spit
by force and without the help of anyone, for the
danger is not unknown to thee. So, for thy bold-
ness and valor, and for the comeliness of thy
person, we will let thee take this one for we have
many others beside.”
It was with great joy that Brian listened to
these words. Thanking the women of Fincara,
he took the spit and hastened to find his ship.
Ur and Urcar had remained in the same spot
waiting for Brian. As day after day went by
and he came not, they began to fear that he
would never return. They were about to leave
the place, having given up all hope, when down
54
GAELIC FOLK TALES
deep in the water they saw the glitter of Brian’s
crystal helmet. A moment afterward, he arose
to the surface with the cooking spit in his hand.
His brothers helped him on board and they all
rejoiced together over his success.
Then they sailed away toward the north of
Lochlann, and never abated speed until they had
moored their vessel near the hill of Midkena.
From its smooth, green height, Midkena saw
them approaching.
He knew them at a glance, and coming toward
them, armed for battle, spoke to them in loud
and threatening tones: “You it was who slew
Kian, my friend and pupil, and now come hither
and fight, for you shall not leave these shores
until you answer for his death.”
Brian, in no wise daunted by the fierce look
and angry speech of Midkena, sprang ashore and
the two heroes attacked each other with great
fury.
The three sons of Midkena heard the clash of
arms, and rushed forth to aid their father. But
just as they arrived at the shore Midkena fell
dead, cloven through the helmet by the heavy
sword of Brian.
Now began a fight, three on each side.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
55
And if men were afar off, even in the land of
Hisberna, at the western end of the world, they
would willingly come the whole way to see this
battle. So fierce and haughty were the minds of
those mighty champions; so skillful and active
were they in the use of their weapons ; so numer-
ous and heavy were their blows ; and so long did
they continue to fight without either party giving
way, that the most valiant of warriors must have
looked on with admiration.
The three sons of Tuireann were at last dread-
fully wounded; wounded almost to death. But,
neither fear nor weakness did this cause them.
The more they were wounded, the more their
valor and their fury arose, and with one mighty
onset they drove their spears through the bodies
of their foes.
And the sons of Midkena fell before them into
the long sleep of death.
When the fight was ended, and the battle fury
gave place to calm within the breasts of the
victors, they began to feel the direful effects of
their wounds. They threw themselves full length
on the blood-stained sward ; and it was as if they
were dead, for a heavy curtain of darkness fell
56
GAELIC FOLK TALES
over their eyes. And thus they remained with-
out moving or speaking.
Then Brian called to his brothers for he sought
to know if they still lived.
They answered him feebly, and he said : “My
dear brothers, let us now arise and give the three
shouts on the hill, while yet there is time; for I
feel the signs of death.”
Then Brian exerting himself to the utmost, and
disregarding the blood which flowed copiously
from his wounds, stood up and giving a hand to
each of his brothers enabled them to rise.
The three sons of Tuireann then gave, though
feebly, the three shouts that Lugha required of
them.
Without further delay they sailed for Eire.
While they were yet far off, Brian gazing over
the sea toward the west, suddenly cried out : “Lo,
I see yonder Ben Edar, rising above the waters.
And I see also Dun Tuireann toward the north.”
Then Urcar spoke from where he reclined with
Ur upon the deck: “If we could but get one
glance of Ben Edar, methinks we should regain
our health and strength. As thou lovest us, and
as thou lovest thine own renown, my brother,
come and raise our heads and rest them on thy
Ben Edar; Hill of Howth. Dun [Doon]: a fort.
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
57
breast, so that we may see Eire once more. After
that we shall welcome either life or death.
“Let us, once more, behold our father’s home ;
On winding Liffey, down by Athaclee.
Old Frevin’s hill; or Teamhair’s regal dome; —
Then welcome life or death, which’er may be.”
So Brian raised their heads and rested them
on his breast, and they gazed on the rocky cliffs
and green slopes of Ben Edar, while the ship was
wafted slowly toward the shore.
Soon they landed near the northern side of
Ben Edar, and from there made their way, little
by little, to Dun Tuireann. When they had
reached the green in front of the house, Brian
cried out: “Father, dear father, come forth to
thy children.”
Tuireann came and saw his sons, all wounded
and pale and feeble, and his heart was filled with
sorrow. Brian after greting him said : “Go, be-
loved father, go quickly to Teamhair; and as
quickly return. Fetch this cooking spit to Lugha,
and tell him that we have given the three shouts
on Midkena’s hill. Say that we have now paid the
entire eric-fine and bring from him the apples
Athaclee [Aw 'haw clee] : Ford of the Hurdles; present city of Dublin.
Frevin [Fra' win]: Hill in Westmeath on the west shore of Loch
Owel. Here, in the ninth century resided Turgesius, the Danish
tyrant who met death by drowning in the above mentioned Loch.
58
GAELIC FOLK TALES
from the garden of Hisberna to heal our wounds;
else we die.”
“Alas, my children,” said Tuireann, “I know
the stern Ildana’s mind. Far rather would he
see you in your tomb, than that he should possess
all the treasures this great world can show.”
“Oh, father,” then said Brian, “linger not here
to mourn ; go straight to Lugha’s home. Tell him
we pay full eric for his parent’s death. Is not the
great Ildana just? Speed like the wind, nor tarry
long, lest we die before thou return.”
Tuireann set out and traveled like the wind,
until he reached Teamhair. There he found
Lugha. He gave him the cooking spit and said:
“Behold, O Ildana, my three sons have now paid
to thee full eric fine, for they have given
the three shouts on Midkena’s hill. But they are
wounded unto death; and now give me, I pray
thee, the three apples from the garden of His-
berna to cure them; else will they die.”
“In vain dost thou seek to restore thy sons, O
Tuireann; they committed a wicked and pitiful
deed when they slew my father, and nothing
could avert their punishment.”
“For the blood they have spilled,
For the hero they have killed,
The penalty is paid and the doom is fulfilled.”
QUEST OF THE ERIC FINE
59
“Return, O Tuireann, to thy home; take with
thee the apples if thou wilt; yet powerless their
magic, and powerless all human effort in behalf
of those who, ere your request was made, lay
cold as did their victim on Murthemna's plain/'
Heavy was Tuireann's heart as he set out from
Teamhair, knowing full well he never again
should hear the voices of his sons.
Eithne, her golden hair unbound about her
shoulders, her dark eyes dim with weeping, met
him at the gateway of Dun Tuireann. With her
he hastened to where Brian lay with Ur and
Urcar on either side of him; for, together they
departed this life. Lamenting over their lifeless
forms, father and sister stood hand in hand,
while Tuireann spoke this lay:
O pulseless is my heart this woful hour ;
My strength is gone, my joy forever fled ;
Three noble champions, Eire’s pride and power,
My three fair youths, my children, cold and dead !
Lo, hear ye Tuireann, your unhappy sire,
Mourning with feeble voice above your grave!
Not wealth nor life nor honors I desire;
A place beside my sons is all I crave.
After this lamentation, Tuireann and Eithne
fell on the bodies of the three young heroes and
they were all buried in one grave,
The Fate of the Ghildren of Lir
CHAPTER I.
AND AILBE lived in a beautiful
palace called Sidhe Finneachaidh.
They had four children whose names
were Finula, Aodh, Fiachra and
Conn. Their mother Ailbe was the
daughter of Oilell Arann; and foster child of
Bove Derg, the king. While the children were
still very young their mother died. Their father
Lir loved Ailbe and her death caused him great
anguish ; indeed, he too would have died of grief,
were it not that his mind was turned from his
sorrow by his love for his four little motherless
children.
When the time of mourning for Ailbe was
over, Bove Derg, the King said: “We mourn -with
you, O Lir, for our foster child and, lest the bond
of alliance and friendship existing between us on
her account should be broken, I will give you for
a wife Ailbe’s sister, Aoife.”
Lir [Leer] Ailbe [Awl' vah]. Sidbe Finneachaidh [She Fin a'
ha]_ Aodh [A]. Oilell Arann [Awl'yeel Ah 'ran]. Aoife
[E ' fa].
60
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
61
So Lir, glad with the thought that Aoife would
give a mother's loving care to his little ones, went
to the palace of Bove Derg and espoused her
and brought her back with him to Sidhe Fin-
neachaidh.
At first Aoife was a very kind stepmother to
Finula, Aodh, Fiachra and Conn and seemed to
love them almost as much as did their father Lir.
Every one loved them; even Bove Derg, the
King, went many times a year to Sidhe Finneach-
aidh to visit them, and he often brought them to
his palace and was always sorry when the time
came for their return home, it gave him such
pleasure to have them with him.
It was the custom of the Dedannans to cele-
brate the feast of age at the houses of the differ-
ent chiefs in turn ; and whenever the festival hap-
pened to be held at Sidhe Finneachaidh the step-
children of Aoife were the delight and joy of all
the Dedannans, so gentle and beautiful were they.
This should have pleased Aoife ; but instead, when
she saw the children of Lir receive such attention
from their father and from all the people who
came to his house, she fancied that she was
neglected on their account and bitter jealousy
entered her heart and turned her love into hatred.
62
GAELIC FOLK TALES
For a whole year Aoife plotted against the chil-
dren, and planned to rid herself of them. Then,
one day, she ordered her horses yoked to her
chariot, and she set out for the palace of Bove
Derg, taking the children with her. Finula did
not wish to go, for she had dreamed that Aoife
was about to bring some harm upon herself and
her brothers. But she was unable to avoid the
fate that awaited her.
As they were passing through a dark and
lonely wood on their way to the palace, Aoife said
to her attendants: “It is my desire that these
children be destroyed, and it is for this I have
brought them with me. I cannot endure to have
them live any longer, for their father has neg-
lected and forsaken me on account of his great
love for them.” But the attendants listened with
horror to Aoife and said: “The children of Lir
shall never be harmed by us; fearful is the deed
thou hast contemplated, Aoife, and evil will surely
befall thee for having even thought of destroying
these beautiful children entrusted to thy care.”
And so they continued on their way ; the wicked
Aoife still plotting mischief in her heart. At last
they came to the shores of Lake Darvra ; and then
Aoife commanded the attendants to unyoke the
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
63
horses and let them rest. She alighted with the
children from the chariot and led them to the edge
of the lake and bade them go and bathe. One by
one as they entered the pure, limpid water, she
struck them with a druidical, fairy wand and
turned them into four beautiful snow-white
swans. Waving the mystical wand she said :
“The words of doom are spoken;
Your home is now the wave;
The charm cannot be broken.
From fate no power can save.”
When she had ceased speaking the four chil-
dren of Lir turned their faces toward her and
Finula said: “Thou hast ruined us without a
cause; false has thy friendship been, and evil is
the deed which thou hast done; but we will be
avenged and the doom that awaits thee is worse
than ours.”
“At last thy wicked work is done !
Aoife, false and cruel one,
With fairy wand and fearful words
To change us into snow-white birds !
Upon the waters evermore
To sail and sail from shore to shore !”
64
GAELIC FOLK TALES
Aoife answered them: “Three hundred years on
Darvra’s lake ; three hundred more on the sea of
Moyle ; and on the sea of Glora in the west three
hundred years ; until the union of the prince of the
north with the princess of the south; until the
Taillkenn come and the voice of the Christian
bell is heard in Eire; and there is no power can
free you until thrice three hundred years be
past!”
But no sooner had she finished speaking than
she was sorry for what she had done. The fairy
wand dropped from her hands as she stretched
them out toward the snow-white swans and said :
“O children of Lir, since I may not now afford
you any other relief, I shall allow you to keep
your own sweet, Gaelic speech; and you shall be
able to sing plaintive, fairy music ; melodies more
beautiful than any the world has ever listened to,
and all who hear them shall be lulled to sleep.
Moreover you shall retain your human reason,
and your lives shall be preserved until the time
comes for you to resume again your human
form.” And then she chanted:
“Until thrice three hundred years are gone,
You shall keep the form of snow white swan ;
Your palace shall be the pearly cave
Moyle; Gaelic: Sruth na Maoile [Sruh na Mweel'ah]: Sea between
Eire and Alban. Sea of Glora is off west coast of Mayo.
Taillkenn [Tal'ken]: A prophesied Deliverer — Saint Patrick.
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
65
Your couch the crest of the crystal wave.
And though Lir shall call his loved ones long
His only answer shall be the song
Of white swans under the night star pale
Singing together a mournful tale.”
Then she ordered her steeds yoked to her char-
iot and departed westward, leaving the four white
swans swimming upon the lake.
66
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER II.
When Aoife arrived at the palace, the chiefs
bade her welcome; and Bove Derg, the King,
asked her why she had not brought the children
of Lir with her. “Because,” she replied, “Lir no
longer loves thee, and he does not wish to intrust
his children to thee, lest thou shouldst harm
them.”
The king was greatly astonished and troubled
to hear this, and he said: “This cannot be; Lir
knows that I love those children as dearly as I
love my own.”
He could not help thinking that Aoife had been
guilty of some treachery; so he sent messengers
in haste to Sidhe Finneachaidh to ask about the
children and request that they might be sent to
him.
When Lir heard the message from Bove Derg
his heart was very sad, for he felt sure that Aoife
had destroyed his four lovely children. Early
next morning his chariot was yoked for him and
he set out with his attendants for the king’s pal-
ace ; and they traveled with great speed until they
arrived at the shore of lake Darvra. The children
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
67
of Lir saw the cavalcade approaching, and Finula
chanted these words:
‘T see the shields and gilded mail
Of warriors coming down the vale.
I see their chariots advance.
While swords and helmets brightly glance.
Too well I know what brings them here:
This Dannan host and royal Lir.”
When Lir reached the shore he heard the birds
speaking and wondering greatly he asked them
how it came to pass that they had human voices.
“O father Lir,” said Finula, “we are thy four
children, and the jealousy of Aoife has caused
her to turn us into birds.” When Lir and his
people heard this they uttered three long cries of
grief and lamentation, and after some time passed
in silence Lir said: “Alas, dear children, great
is my sorrow to find you thus; yet I hope it is pos-
sible to restore to you your human forms, and
this I shall seek to do without delay.”
But the swans answered him: “There is no
power, O Lir, can break the spell of the druidical
charm by which Aoife has changed thy children
into snow-white swans. For three times three
centuries we must sail the waves of Dar-
68
GAELIC FOLK TALES
vra, Moyle and Glora. We may not take our
human shapes again until the union of the prince
of the north with the princess of the south; and
until the Tailkenn has come and the sound of the
Christian bell is heard in Eire.” Hearing this the
people again raised three great cries of sorrow.
Then Finula spoke again: “But the wicked
Aoife has allowed us to retain our Gaelic speech ;
and we have also the power to chant plaintive,
fairy music; so sweet that those who listen to us
could not wish for any greater happiness. Re-
main on Darvra shore tonight and we will chant
for you.”
So Lir and his people remained on the shore of
the lake, and the swans sang their fairy music for
them ; and it was so sweet and sad that the people
as they listened fell into a calm, gentle sleep.
At the first glimmer of dawn, Lir arose and
bade his children farewell:
“The time has come for us to part
No more, alas, my children dear,
Your rosy smiles shall glad the heart
Or light the gloomy home of Lir.”
Then Lir went to seek Aoife and when he had
come to the king’s palace, Bove Derg reproached
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
69
him in the presence of Aoife for not bringing the
children.
“Alas!” said Lir, “It was not I but your own
foster child, Aoife, who prevented them from
coming. She has placed them under cruel spells ;
and changed them by her sorcery into four white
swans on the lake of Darvra.”
The king listened with astonishment to this sad
news, and when he looked at Aoife he knew by
her countenance that Lir had told him the truth.
In fierce and angry tones he spoke to her and said :
“Thy cruel deed shall be worse for thee than for
the children, for there shall be an end to their suf-
ferings but not to yours.” And still more fiercely
he spoke and asked her what form of all upon the
earth, or above the earth, or beneath the earth she
most abhorred; and she answered: “A demon of
the air.”
“That is the form you now shall take,” said
Bove Derg and as he spoke he struck her with a
druidical, magic wand and turned her into a de-
mon of the air. She opened her wings and flew
with a scream upward and away through the
clouds. And she is still a demon of the air, and
shall be until the end of time.
After this Bove Derg and the Dedannans went
Demon of the air: Gaelic: Deamhan Aedhir [Dune Ar]. Milesian:
Same as Phoenician; the people of Mile, the last of the ancient colon-
ists of Eire; they came from Spain ; but, first from the East Mil& ;
Latin Miletus, a soldier.
70
GAELIC FOLK TALES
to the shore of lake Darvra where they encamped,
and the Milesian people came also and encamped
in like manner. For three hundred years the
people in their encampments, and the swans on the
lake conversed together sweetly during the day,
and at night the swans chanted their fairy music;
the most delightful that was ever heard by men.
And all who listened to this music forgot their
grief and pain and fell into a gentle sleep, from
which they awoke bright and happy.
At the end of the three hundred years, Finula
said to her brothers : “Do you not know, my dear
brothers, we have come to the end of our time
here, and have but this one more night to spend
on lake Darvra ?”
When the three sons of Lir heard this they
were very sorrowful, for now they must bid their
father and their friends farewell and go to live on
the dismal, tempestuous sea of Moyle far away
from all human society. Early the next morning
they came to the margin of the lake to say fare-
well and Finula chanted this lay:
“Our father dear and friends farewell,
The last sad hour is near;
On stormy Moyle we go to dwell
In loneliness and fear.”
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
71
The four swans then spread their wings and
rose from the surface of the water in sight of all
their friends until they had reached a great height
in the air. Then resting and looking downward
for a moment they flew to the north, and alighted
on the sea of Moyle between Eire and Alban.
With sad hearts the people watched their snowy
wings disappear in the far, blue heaven; and im-
mediately thereafter they made a law, and pro-
claimed it throughout the land, that from that
time forth no one should kill a swan in Eire.
Miserable indeed was the plight of the children
of Lir on the sea of Moyle. The sight of the dark,
wild waves and steep, rocky coast filled them with
fear and despair ; and not only were they sad and
lonely, but they were also cold and hungry.
And so they lived until one night a great
tempest fell upon the sea. Finula when she saw
the sky darkening over with great rolling clouds,
said to her brothers : “Beloved brothers, we have
made no preparations for this night, and it is cer-
tain that the coming storm will separate us; let
us now appoint a place of meeting or it may hap-
pen that we may never see each other again.”
“Dear sister,” they answered, “you speak truly
and wisely. Let us arrange to meet at Carrick-
Alban : Scotland, Car7 rick na rone ' ; Rock of the fur seals.
72
GAELIC FOLK TALES
narone as that is a rock we all know very well.”
So they appointed Carricknarone for a meeting
place.
At midnight a wild, rough wind swept over the
dark sea; the lightnings flashed, and the roar of
the great billows was almost as loud as the
thunders of the sky. The unhappy swans were
scattered over the waters so that not one of them
knew in what direction the others had been
driven. Toward morning the storm abated and
Finula swam to Carricknarone, but she did not
find her brothers there ; neither could she see any
trace of them when, from the summit of the rock,
she looked all around over the wide face of the
sea. She feared she might never again see her
brothers, and began to lament them singing :
“The anguish and woe of this life
No longer Fm able to bear.
My wings are benumbed with the pitiless frost;
My three little brothers are scattered and lost
And I am left here to despair.
Return, O my brothers, return !
Sail over the dark waves to me.
Once more let me shelter you close to my breast.
And soothe all your sorrows and lull you to rest;
Return, O my brothers, to me.”
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
73
But hardly had she ceased singing, when she
saw Conn coming toward the rock with his head
drooping, and his feathers all drenched with the
salt spray. With joyful heart she welcomed him,
and together they anxiously scanned the waters in
hope of seeing their brothers. Soon Fiachra
came so faint, after his long struggle against the
stormy waves, that he was hardly able to answer
the affectionate greetings of his brother and sis-
ter. Finula spread her wings over him and Conn
and said: “If Aodh were here now how happy
we would all be !” And how happy they were a
short time afterward to see him coming with head
erect and feathers dry and radiant.
Many another tempest the children of Lir lived
through upon the briny waters of the sea of
Moyle. Sometimes they visited the shores of Eire
and the headlands of Alban; but they could re-
main away for only a- short period of time, as the
fetters of the fairy charm bound them to return
again to the sea stream of Moyle. One day they
came to the mouth of the Bann, on the north coast
of Eire, and looking inland they saw a troop of
horsemen coming from the southwest. They were
mounted on white steeds and clad in bright col-
74
GAELIC FOLK TALES
ored garments; and as they moved toward the
shore their arms glittered in the sunlight.
The swans swam toward the shore in order to
find out who the strangers were. It happened
also that the cavalcade espied the swans and di-
rected their course toward them, until they were
within speaking distance. These mounted men
were a third part of the Fairy Host and were
commanded by the two sons of Bove Derg : Aed,
the keen witted; and Fergus, the chess player.
They had been searching for the children of Lir
along the northern shores of Eire, and they were
very joyful when they found them. Tender words
of greeting were exchanged by them and the
snow white swans, and the chiefs gave to the un-
happy children of Lir tidings of their father and
their friends. But soon they bade each other
farewell, for the swans could not remain longer
away from Moyle. As the fairy cavalcade moved
away their heard the sweet, sad voice of Finula
chanting :
“Ah, happy is Lir’s bright home today,
With mead and music and poet’s lay;
But gloomy and cold his children roam
Forever tossed on the briny foam.
On Moyle’s dark current our food and wine
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
75
Are sandy sea weed and bitter brine.
Lonely we swim on the billowy main
Through frost and snow; through storm and rain;
But rich was our raiment, long, long ago;
Mantles of purple and furs of snow ;
And gaily we feasted in days of old
And drank sweet nectar from cups of gold.”
As soon as the Fairy Host had returned to
Sidhe Finneachaidh they related all that had hap-
pened, and described the condition of the children
of Lir. Then the Dedannan chiefs said: “We
would gladly help them were it in our power, but
it is not. Still we may find comfort in the thought
that the enchantment will at length be broken,
and the white swans once more resume their
human forms.”
When the three hundred years on the sea of
Moyle were ended, the swans flew westward to
the sea of Glora. And it happened that a young
man named Ebric, who lived near the sea, ob-
served the birds and heard their singing. He
took great delight in listening to them, and al-
most every day he walked down to the sea to
look at them and converse with them. And they
grew to love each other very much; and it was
76
GAELIC FOLK TALES
he who in the old days wrote down the story of
the snow-white swans.
The children of Lir sailed, as they were
destined to do, for three hundred years on the sea
of Glora; and, when at last the time was past, Fin-
ula said : “Come brothers, our time upon the seas
is over ; let us now go to visit our father and our
people.” How glad the brothers were to hear
this ! They all spread their snowy wings and ris-
ing lightly from the face of the water flew east-
ward to Sidhe Finneachaidh. But when they
alighted, they found the place deserted and sol-
itary. Its halls were ruined and overgrown with
rank grass and forests of nettles. All was dark,
and lonely, and nowhere was there anything to
show that human beings dwelt there.
The four swans drew close together and ut-
tered three loud, mournful cries of sorrow; and
Finula sang:
“The house of my father is joyless and lone;
Its halls and its gardens with weeds overgrown.
No warrior noble nor beautiful maid,
In bright silken garments and jewels arrayed.
No shield nor keen sword on the dark lofty walls ;
No music to brighten its desolate halls.”
All that night the swans sang together mel-
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
77
odies so sad and beautiful that the very trees
around the deserted palace wept as the strains vi-
brated through their branches.
78
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER III.
Early next morning the children of Lir left
Sidhe Finneachaidh and flew westward to a small
lake near Innis Glora. They alighted on its
waters and began to sing so sweetly that all the
birds of the forest near by gathered on the shores
to listen; and the little lake came to be known as
the lake of the bird-flocks.
During the day the birds used to fly to distant
points on the coast in order to find food: now to
Achill; now to Inniskea of the lonely crane and
sometimes southward to Donn’s sea rocks. But
every night they returned to Innis Glora. In this
manner they lived until the Taillkenn brought
the Christian faith to Eire, and Saint Kemoc
came to Innis Glora.
When first the swans heard Saint Kemoc ring-
ing his bell at early matin time, they trembled at
the strange sound, and did not know whether to
be joyful or afraid, until Finula said: “My
brothers, this faint, sweet sound we hear is the
voice of the Christian bell ; and now the end of our
suffering is near for with the ringing of this bell
comes freedom from Aoife’s spell.,,
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
79
“Listen, O swans, to the sound of the bell,
The sweet bell we’ve dreamed of for many a year,
Its tones floating by on the night breezes tell
That the end of our long day of sorrow is near.
Oh trust in the glorious Lord of the sky;
He will free us from Aoife’s magical spell.
Be thankful and glad that our freedom is nigh,
And listen with joy to the sound of the bell.”
When Kemoc, the cleric, had finished his
matins the swans chanted a low, sweet strain of
fairy music in praise of the great high King of
heaven and earth. Kemoc heard it and listened
with great wonder, and while he listened it was
revealed to him that it was the children of Lir
whom he had heard singing. So, as soon as it
was- dawn, he went to the shore of the lake and
there he saw the four white swans swimming on
the water. “Are you not the children of Lir?”
he said to them.
“We are indeed Lir’s children,” said they.
“Long ago we were changed into swans by our
jealous stepmother.,,
“I give God thanks that I have found you,”
said Kemoc. “It is on your account that I have
come to this little island in preference to all other
islands in Eire. Come now to land and trust in
80
GAELIC FOLK TALES
me, for it is in this place that you are destined to
be freed from your enchantment.”
It filled their hearts with joy to hear Kemoc
speaking thus, and they swam to shore and placed
themselves in his care. He brought them to his
own home and, sending for a skilful workman, he
directed him to make two bright slender chains
of silver and he put one between Finula and
Aodh; and one between Fiachra and Conn. And
so they lived with him, listening to his instruc-
tions, and joining in his devotions. And the holy
cleric loved them with all his heart and the mem-
ory of all the misery they had suffered caused
them neither distress nor sorrow.
At this time Largnen, the son of Colman, was
king of Connacht; and, his queen was Decca,
daughter of the king of Munster, the same king
and queen of whom Aoife had spoken so long be-
fore in her prophecy. Queen Decca heard of the
wonderful, speaking swans, and their sad story
filled her heart with love and sympathy; and she
desired very much to have them with her at the
royal palace. She besought the king to get them
for her, but Largnen said he did not wish to ask
them from Kemoc. Decca, however, was de-
termined to have the swans ; so she left the palace
THE CHILDREN OF LIR
81
that very hour and fled southward toward her
father's home.
Largnen, when he found that she was gone,
sent messengers after her to say that if she would
return he would ask Kemoc for the swans. The
messengers overtook her at Killaloe, and she re-
turned with them to the palace, happy with the
thought of having the snow white swans for her
own.
But Kemoc refused Largnen's request for the
birds ; and this made him very angry. He set out
at once for the cleric's house, and being very
wroth he seized the swans and hurried away with
them, intending to bring them by force to the
queen. He had gone but a little way when the
swans' beautiful, white feathers seemed to melt in
the air and then entirely vanished ; and, although
nobody could tell after beholding it how it came
to pass, the swans regained their human shapes.
But not as children did they appear; on the
contrary, they were feeble, white haired and
wrinkled.
The king, on beholding them thus, started with
affright and instantly left the place without
speaking a word. Kemoc, looking after him, re-
proached him bitterly; but Finula said: “Do not
Largnen [Lam 'yen].
82
GAELIC FOLK TALES
grieve for us, O Kemoc, but baptize us without
delay; for the time is near for our departure from
this life. Make our grave on this spot and bury
us together. Place us as we have often nestled
together when we were swans: Conn standing
near me at my right side; Fiachra at my left and
Aodh looking into my face. So then the holy
cleric, Saint Kemoc, baptized them, and they
closed their eyes in the long sleep from which
they would never awaken in this world. And
Kemoc, looking up, saw a vision of four lovely
children, with luminous, silvery, wings and faces
radiant with joy. The children smiled at him and
then slowly disappeared from his eager gaze.
Kemoc was very happy for he knew the swans
had gone to dwell in a kingdom where no treach-
ery could touch them, and where all would be
love and happiness.
He buried the bodies of the children of Lir ac-
cording to their wish; and raised a grave mound
over them, and above it a stone on which their
names were engraved in Ogham.
And this is the sorrowful story of the children
of Lir as told by Ebric of the lake of Glora.
Ogham [O' am]: The most ancient manner of writing or making
records known to the Irish. There are many stones inscribed in
Ogham still extant.
The Ard Righ of Eire
CHAPTER I.
NE day, as Eochaid Feidlech, Ard
Righ of Eire, was going over the fair
green of Bri Leith he saw near a
well a woman wearing a beautiful,
purple cloak with silver fringes and a golden
brooch. Her dress was of green silk with a long
hood embroidered in red gold, and on her breast
and shoulders were cunningly wrought clasps of
gold and silver. Her hair was in two plaits, and
in each plait were four strands, and at the end of
each strand was a bead. Also she wore a comb
of gold and silver. The color of her hair was like
that of the yellow ailestars in summer, or like red
gold after it is rubbed.
She had brought with her a silver basin, in
which to wash her hair. The basin had four
golden birds on it and little, bright-purple stones
set in its rim. After preparing to wash her hair
she let it down with her soft hands, white as the
Ard Righ of Eire [Ard Ree of Ar'ya]: The High King of Ireland.
The Ard Righ of Eire : The original manuscript is one of the old-
est specimens of written Gaelic now extant. Eochaid Feidlech
[Och'ee Fa/lach]. Bri Leith [Bree Leh]: Property of Leith.
Ailestar [A lest ar], the iris or fleur de lis.
83
84
GAELIC FOLK TALES
snow of a single night. Her eyes were blue as
any blue flower, and her lips as red as the berries
of the quicken tree. The brightness of the moon
was in her face; the arch of pride in her eye-
brows ; a dimple of delight in each of her cheeks ;
the light of love in her eyes and her walk was
that of a queen. Of all the women in the world
she was the loveliest and best, and King Eochaid
and his people thought that she came from the
hills of the Sidhe, and they said of her : “All are
dear and all are beautiful until they are put be-
side Etain.,,
So Eochaid sent messengers to bring her to
him, and when she had come he said “Who are
you and where do you come from?”
“That is easy to tell,,, she said. “I am Etain,
daughter of Etar, king of the Riders of the Sidhe.
“Ever since I was born, twenty years ago, I have
lived in this place. Kings and great men from
among the Sidhe have asked for my love, but I
have not wasted a thought on them, for even
when I was a child I loved you, because of the
tales I heard of your goodness and valor. When
I saw you just now, I knew you by all I had heard
of you and was glad to have found you at last.”
“It is a good friend you have been looking for,”
Etain [Et'yan]. Etar [A 'tar].
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
85
said Eochaid, “and he bids you welcome.” From
now on no other woman shall hold my love.” And
so they were wedded and lived together until
King Eochaid died.
They had one daughter and she was named
Etain after her mother. She married Cormac,
king of Ulster, and like her mother she had one
daughter. But Cormac was vexed because he
wished for a son instead of a daughter; and he
bade two of his serving men take the child out of
his sight, and put her in a pit to die. So they
brought her to the pit, but when they were putting
her in she smiled at them so sweetly that they had
not the heart to harm her. They then brought
her to a calf-shed belonging to the herders of the
cattle of Etercel, great grandson of Iar, king of
Teamhair. The herders cared for her with love
and kindness and no king’s daughter was more
beautiful or virtuous than she, the maiden Etain,
to whom Cormac had denied a father’s love and
protection. And the herders made for her a little
house of wicker work. The little house had no
door; only a large, high window.
King Etercel’s people thought that the herders
stored provisions in the wicker house. But one
day a man from among them got up and looked
Etercel [Et' er kel].
86
GAELIC FOLK TALES
in through the window and instead of a store
of provisions, he saw the best behaved and most
beautiful young girl of the whole world.
When King Etercel heard this he sent the
noblest of all his warriors to break into the wicker
house and bring Etain away, without asking per-
mission of the cowherds. For King Etercel
thought she must be the woman who it had been
foretold would be his wife.
But early in the morning, before the king's
messengers reached the house, a bird flew in
through the window, and it left its bird-skin on
the floor and stood before Etain changed to a
man, and he said to her :
"The king is sending messengers to bring you
to him for he wishes to make you his wife. And
you will have a son whose name will be Conaire,
son of Mess Buachall, that is, ‘son of the cow-
herd's foster-child.' And there will be geasa on
him, that is bonds, never to kill a bird for I will
be his father." With that he disappeared in his
bird-skin and flew out of the window, and the
king's messengers came and breaking down the
wicker house brought Etain away to the king.
When her son Conaire was born, Etain asked
that he might be brought up between three house-
Conaire [Con ' er ry], Buachall [Bo ' kell].
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
87
holds; the household of the herders, the house-
hold of the Maines and her own household.
So Conaire was reared as his mother wished
and there were five other boys reared along with
him: Ferger, Fergel, Ferogian, Ferobain and
Lomna Druth, the jester of the house of Dond
Dessa, who was champion of the army from Mu
Muclesi. And they all were given the same food,
and their clothing and armor and the color of
their horses were the same.
Maines [Mawn'yahs], Lomna Druth [Lum'na Droo]. Life:
River at the mouth of which Dublin is located. Ath Cliath [Aw
Clee'ah]: Same as Athaclee, page 57.
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER II.
And, while Conaire was yet quite young, king
Etercel died; and after his death a bull feast was
made ready at Teamhair, for the custom was to
find out by means of a bull feast who was the best
man to succeed to the kingship.
This is the way in which a bull feast was made.
A white bull was killed and his flesh was boiled
in a great caldron, and one man would eat of the
meat and drink of the broth until he was fully sat-
isfied. Then he would sleep; and a charm of
truth would be said over him by four Druids, and
whoever he would see in his sleep would be king.
And when he awoke he would describe to the peo-
ple the appearance of the man he had seen in his
sleep, and if he told anything but the truth his
lips would perish. This time the dreamer saw in
his sleep a young man who did not have sufficient
clothing to keep him from being scorched by the
sun and chilled by the wind. The young man had
a stone in his sling and was hurrying along the
road to Teamhair as if looking for something to
wear.
Conaire at this time was playing games near
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
89
the Life river with his foster brothers, and the
cowherds who had reared him came and bade
him go to Teamhair to the bull feast.
So Conaire left the others to play their games
without him and started in his chariot for the bull
feast. And as he fared on his way he came to Ath
Cliath, where he saw some white speckled birds;
the largest and finest he had ever seen. He fol-
lowed them until his horses were tired but could
not come up with them, for they always kept just
beyond his reach. So he got down from his char-
iot and taking his sling followed them to the
shore of the sea. When the birds reached the sea
they swam away on the waves and Conaire went
after them and tried to seize them. Then they
left their bird-skins on the water, and rose up in
the likeness of men before Conaire, and turned
to face him with spears and swords.
But one of the birds stepped to Conaire's side
in token of protection, and said to him: “I am
Nemglan, king of your father's birds. You are
under geasa never to cast a stone at birds and
there is great reason why all birds should be dear
to you."
“I have never heard of the geasa before,"
said Conaire dropping the stone from his
Nemglan [Nev'glan].
90
GAELIC FOLK TALES
sling. Then Nemglan said: “We have a mes-
sage for you and it is this: Go to Team-
hair tonight to the bull feast. By doing so
you will be made king; for the kingship is to be
given to a man who will go along one of the roads
to Teamhair, toward the end of the night, and
whose clothing is not sufficient to keep his body
from being scorched by day and chilled by night.”
“I will go,” said Conaire, “for I have a right
to be king when my father and grandfather have
been king before me.”
“You will be king, indeed,” said Nemglan,
“and your bird-reign will be renowned, but there
are geasa, that is bonds, on you not to do these
things which I shall name:
“Do not go right-hand-wise around Teamhair
nor left-hand-wise around Bregia. Do not hunt
the evil beasts of Cerna. Do not go out beyond
Teamhair every ninth night. Do not settle the
quarrel of two of your own people. Let no rob-
bery be done in your reign. Do not sleep in a
house from which you can see the firelight shin-
ing after sunset. Do not let one man nor one
woman come into the house where you are after
sjunset. Do not let three Reds go before you to
the house of Red.”
Bregia [Bra w] : Plain on which Teamhair stands. Cerna [Kar'na].
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
91
As soon as Nemglan had finished speaking, he
and his companions resumed their bird-shapes
and flew rapidly away.
Then Conaire, remembering what had been
told him, left his raiment lying on the strand and
picking up another stone for his sling set out for
Teamhair. And on each of the four roads to
Teamhair three kings were waiting; and they had
with them clothing for the king whose coming
had been foretold at the bull feast. And the three
kings on the road Conaire was traveling when
they saw him coming went forth to meet him, and
they put royal clothes on him and brought him in
a chariot to Teamhair.
But the people of Teamhair when they saw him
said: “Our bull feast and our charm of truth
were of little worth when they have brought us
only a young, beardless lad.”
But Conaire said: “My youth does not unfit
me to be your king, for my father and my grand-
father have both held the same place. “That is
true,” said they; and then they gave him the king-
ship. And Conaire said to them: “I will be a
just king to you and I will learn of wise men, that
I also may be wise.”
And during Cpnaire’s reign there was peace
92
GAELIC FOLK TALES
and plenty throughout Eire. Seven ships at a
time came into Inver Colpa, and there were corn
and nuts up to the knees in every harvest, and
trees bending from the weight of fruit and the
Buais and the Boinne were full of fish every sum-
mer. And among the people there was such good
will that they thought each others voices as sweet
as the strings of harps. Even the wolves them-
selves were held by hostages not to kill more than
one calf in every pen.
During all Conaire’s reign there was no
thunder nor storm, and from Baal Tinne until
Samhain there was not as much wind as would
stir the rushes in the water. And the cattle were
without herders because of the greatness of peace.
And his reign crowned Eire with three crowns :
the crown of flowers ; the crown of acorns and the
crown of wheat ears.
Inver [Estuary]. Inver Colpa: Estuary of the Boyne river at
Drogheda [Draw' dah]. Tinnee [Tin'neh]. Baal Tinne : Baal
Fire; Month of May. Samhain [So\y'nah] : Month of November.
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
93
CHAPTER III.
But after awhile the sons of Dond Dessa grew
discontented, because they were hindered from the
robbery and killing which used to be in the old
time. And to vex the king, and to see what he
would do, they stole three things : a pig, a bullock
and a cow from the same countryman every year
for three years. And every year the countryman
went to the king to make complaint and every
year the king said: “It is to the sons of Dessa
you should go, for they took the beasts.” But
when the countryman went to the sons of Dond
Dessa he received no satisfaction, but insults and
threats were added to his injuries. And he was
afraid to go back and tell the king for fear of vex-
ing him.
So the sons of Dond Dessa continued their
depredations and three times fifty other young
men, sons of the great men of Eire joined them.
And one time when they were doing their
wicked work in Connacht they followed a swine-
herd, who ran from them and called for help, and
the people came in haste when they heard the
cry; and they caught the robbers and brought
94
GAELIC FOLK TALES
them back to Teamhair. King Conaire was
then called upon to give judgment and this is
what he said : “Let every father of a robber put
his own son to death, but let my foster-brothers
be spared.”
“Give us leave,” said the people, “and we will
put them to death for you.”
“I will not consent to that,” said Conaire,
“Their lives shall be spared ; yet if they must con-
tinue in their robbery let them go across the sea
to Alban.”
Thereupon the sons of Dond Dessa were driven
out of the country, and some of the Maines went
with them, and the sons of Ailell and Maeve and
three great fighting men of Leinster, who were
called the Three Red Hounds of Cualu ; and they
also brought with them a troop of wild, restless
men.
And when they were out in their ships on the
rough sea, they met the ship of Ingcel, the One-
Eyed grandson of Cormac of Britain. They
were going to make an attack on him but Ingcel
said “Instead of fighting let us come to an agree-
ment for you have been driven out of Eire and I
have been driven out of Britain. Let us unite,”
said Ingcel, “come you with us and we will spoil
Ailell [Awl'yeel]. Maeve [Mave]: Same as Queen Mab of Shake-
speare. Ingcel [Ing'kel],
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
95
the people of my country/’ So to this they
agreed; but they cast lots as to where they should
go first and it happened that, according to lots,
they should first go to Britain with Ingcel. So
they wrought great ravages in Britain, and then
set out for Alban, repeating their destruction and
robbery. At last they turned back again to Eire.
Now at this time the peace of Eire had been
broken by the two Cairbres, who were at war with
one another in Tuamumain of Munster, and no
one was able to put an end to their quarrel until
Conaire himself went to Tuamumain for that
purpose. But in doing this he broke two of the
geasa put on him by the Man of the Waves. On
his way back to Teamhair, when he was passing
Usnach in Meath, he and his people thought they
saw fighting from east to west, and from north
to south, and armies of savages and the country
of the Ua Neills like a cloud of fire around them.
“What means this?” said Conaire. “It is
easy to answer that,” said the people. “The king’s
law has been transgressed and the country is on
fire.” -
“What way is the best way for us to go ?” said
Conaire-
“To the northwest” said his people.
Tuamumain [Too 'ah moon]. North Munster, modernized: Tho-
mond.
GAELIC FOLK TALES
So they went right-hand-wise around Team-
hair and left-hand-wise around Bregia; and by
doing this Conaire again broke his bonds. Also
they hunted wild beasts, which they encountered
on their way, and Conaire did not know until
afterwards that they were the evil beasts of
Cerna.
It was the Sidhe who had put that Druid mist
of smoke about Conaire, because he had begun
to break his bonds. Great fear came over him
and, hardly knowing what to do, he and his peo-
ple traveled south by the sea coast on the road
of Cualu. As evening came on Conaire said:
“Where shall we go to spend the night ?”
Then MacCecht, one of Conaire’s fighting
men, who kept three of the Fomor as hostages
at the king’s court so that their people would not
spoil corn or honey in Eire during his reign,
answered the king: “This much I can truly say,
O king: It is oftener the men of Eire have quar-
reled to entertain you, than you have strayed
about looking for a lodging.”
“I have a friend not far from this,” said Con-
aire, “if we but knew the way to his house, we
could go there.”
“What is his name?” asked MacCecht.
The houses of the ancient Gaels were made of wood. Mac Cecht
[Mac Kay'acht].
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
97
“Da Derga of Leinster ; it is he who keeps the
great inn,” said Conaire. “He came once to ask
a gift of me, and I did not refuse, but gave him
horses, cattle and swine; cloaks of fine cloth,
swords, spears and red-gilded brooches; good
brown ale and white hounds in silver chains.
And I would do the same by him again should
he come to me. Surely he would not be-
grudge me anything should I go to his house to-
night.”
“As I remember,” said MacCecht, “the house
of Da Derga has seven doorways and seven
sleeping rooms between every two doorways ;
and, we are now going directly toward it.”
“Let us continue on this road until we come
to the house you speak of,” said Conaire.
“If you wish to do that,” said MacCecht, “I
will go on before you and light a fire in the
house.”
So Conaire and all his people went on toward
Ath Cliath and presently a man with hair cut
short and with but one hand, one foot, and one
eye and an altogether dreadful appearance over-
took them. In his hand he held a forked pole of
black iron ; on his back he carried a black-bristled,
Da Derga : Its location was a few miles South of Dublin. The road
thither has the same name it had in the first century. Boher Na
Breena.
98
GAELIC FOLK TALES
singed pig which squealed vociferously; and after
him hurried a large-mouthed, ugly woman.
“Welcome to you, my master Conaire,” he
said.
“Who gives this welcome ?” said Conaire.
“Fer Coille, the Man of the Wood,” said he,
giving Conaire an uncanny glance of his one
great eye. “I offer you the shelter of my house
tonight; and my black pig is a surety that you
shall not go fasting, but feast and sleep as be-
comes the best king in the world.”
“I will not go to your house tonight,” said
Conaire, “but any other night it pleases you I
will accept your hospitality, only leave me now
and go your own way.”
“That we will not do,” replied Fer Coille, “but
we will spend the night with you in whatever
place you may be, O fair little master, Conaire.”
So he went on toward the inn; his wife be-
hind him, and his black pig squealing on his
back.
Soon afterward Conaire saw three horsemen
going toward the inn. They had red cloaks ; red
shields and red spears in their hands and they
were mounted on red horses.
“What men are these riding before me?” said
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
99
Conaire, “I am under geasa not to let them go
before me: three Reds to the house of Red, that
is the house of Derga. Who will overtake them
and bid them come back and follow me?”
“1 will overtake them,” said Lefriflaith, Con-
aire’s son, and speaking to his horse he gal-
loped away.
But however fast he rode he could not overtake
the three red horses and their red-clad riders,
so he called to them to turn back and not con-
tinue riding before the king. To his first and
second call they did not reply, but the third time
one of the three men looked back and said : “Dire
news awaits us, my son, wetting of swords; de-
stroying of life; shields with broken bosses after
the fall of night! We ride the horses of the
Sidhe, and although we are alive we are dead.”
With that the three red riders vanished, and
Lefriflaith went back to his father.
“You did not keep back the men,” said Con-
aire.
“I have failed indeed,” said Lefriflaith, “but I
could do no more than I have done.” And then
he told the king and his people what the red
horseman had said. This gave them all great un-
easiness, and Conaire said: “All my bonds are
Lefriflaith [Lef'ri flah]. Flaith: Prince.
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GAELIC FOLK TALES
broken tonight, and those three Reds before me
are sent by the Sidhe.”
Now while Conaire and his people were on
the road of Cualu, going toward the inn, Ingcel
and the outlaws of Eire were come in their ships
to the coast of Bregia opposite Etair. And the
sons of Dond Dessa said: “Furl the sails now,
and send a light-footed messenger on shore to
find out what prospect there is of keeping our
bargain with Ingcel; we must give him spoil for
spoil.”
“Let some man go” said Ingecel “who has the
gifts of keen hearing, far-sight and judgment.”
“I have the gift of keen hearing,” said Maine
Milscothach. “And I have the gift of far-sight
and judgment” said Maine Andoc.
“Then it is well for you both to go,” said the
others.
So they landed and fared on until they came to
Beinn Etair, and there they stopped to see and
hear.
“Be quiet; listen,” said Maine Milscothach.
“What do you hear?” said Maine Andoc.
“I hear the coming of a king,” was the reply
“Look now and tell me what you see.”
“I see,” said Maine Milscothach, “a great
Milscothach [Mils ko'hah]: Honey-blossoms Andoc [An 'ok]:
Youthful Beinn Etair [Ben Edar]. proper names and names
of places are often spelled differently in 'different texts.
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
101
company of men traveling over hills and rivers.
They have clothes of every color, grey spears
over their chariots, and swords with ivory hilts
and silver shields. And I swear by the gods of
the air the horses they have with them are the
horses of some great chief.”
“It is my opinion,” said Maine Andoc, “that
the king you see is Conaire, son of Eterscel,
traveling with a great company of men of Eire.”
With that they went back and told their com-
rades what they had heard and seen. So the sons
of Dond Dessa and Ingcel had their boats
brought to shore and landed on the strand of Fur-
buithe.
Just at this moment Mac Cecht was strik-
ing a spark to kindle a fire in the inn before the
High King.
And Conaire and his people when they ar-
rived at the inn entered and seated themselves;
and so did the three red men, and the Man of the
Wood, the swineherd of the Sidhe, with his
squealing pig.
And when they were seated Da Derga came to
greet them. With him were three times fifty long
haired fighting men. Each one of them wore a
Furbuithe [Fur bwee'hah].
102
GAELIC FOLK TALES
short cloak and carried a great blackthorn stick
with bands of iron.
“ Welcome, my master Conaire,” said Da
Derga, “and if you were to bring all the men of
Eire with you there would be a welcome for them
all.”
When twilight shades had fallen, a lone woman
came to the inn. She was wrapped in a grey
woolen cloak over which fell the tangled masses
of her long hair. Her mouth was drawn to one
side of her head and she leaned against the door-
post and threw an evil eye on the king and the
young men about him.
“Well, woman,” said Conaire, “if you have
the Druid sight, what is it you see for us?”
“This is what I see for you,” said she, “nothing
of your skin; or, of your flesh, will escape from
the place you are now in, except what the birds
will bring away in their claws. And now let me
go into the house,” she continued, attempting to
enter.
“I am under geasa,” said Conaire, “not to let
one lone woman enter the house after the setting
of the sun.” And turning to the servants he
said: “Bring this woman a good share of food
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
103
from my own table; but see that she spends the
night under some other roof than this.”
“If the king is no longer hospitable, and it has
become his custom not to let one lone woman
come into his house to be fed and lodged, I will
go elsewhere and seek hospitality from some bet-
ter man.”
“Let her in regardless of my bonds,” said
Conaire when he heard that.
So they let her in, but none of them felt easy in
their minds after what she had said.
While all this was happening, the outlaws were
on their way to the inn. And when they came to
Leccaibcend Slebe they saw the great light which
was shining from the inn through the wheels of
the chariots that were outside the doors.
“What is that great light yonder in the dis-
tance?” said Ingcel to Ferogain.
“I think it must be the fire of Conaire, the
High King,” said Ferogain, “and I fear if he is
there tonight that harm will come to him, or his
life be shortened; and he a branch in its blossom!”
“And I count it good luck if he is there” said
Ingcel. “Spoil for spoil! Should Conaire fall
into our hands it would be no worse for you, than
Leccaibcend Slebe [Lack' av kin Schlav].
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GAELIC FOLK TALES
it was for us when we lost our people and our
our king!”
'That is true! That is true!” said all the
others.
Then every man of them brought a stone from
the strand to make a cairn, as was their custom
before making an attack on any place, for
by this they could determine how many men had
been lost. For every man that would come from
the fight would take his stone from the cairn and
the stones of all that had been killed would be left
there.
After the cairn was made they held a council,
and it was agreed that Ingcel should go as a
spy to the inn. So he went and spent some time
looking in through the seven doors of the house.
But at last one of the men inside caught sight
of him, and Ingcel, seeing that he was found
out, made his way back to where his comrades
were sitting, with their leaders in the middle,
waiting to hear his tidings from the inn.
"Did you see the house, Ingcel?” said Fero-
gain ?”
"I have looked through the seven doors of it,”
said Ingcel "and whether there is a king in it or
Cairn [Kam] : A hill.
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
105
not it is a royal house, and I will take it for my
share when the spoils are divided.”
“You may do that,” said Conaire’s foster
brothers, “but we will not go against it before we
know who is in it.”
“The first I saw” said Ingcel, “was a large
man of good race with bright eyes and hair like
flax; his face was wide above and narrow below
and he had no beard. His mien was modest and
frank. He had a five barbed spear and a shield
with five gold circles on it. There were nine men
round-about him, all fine looking and so much
alike that you would think that they had the same
father and mother. Who were those men, Fero-
gain?”
“It is easy to answer that,” said Ferogain.
“They were Cormac Conloingeas and his nine
comrades. These men have never put anyone to
death because of poverty, nor spared him because
of riches. It is a good leader they have, for Cor-
mac is the best fighter behind a shield in all Eire.
I swear by the gods of the air, it is no small
slaughter they will make before the inn tonight.”
“If I had my way,” said Lomna Druth, the
jester, “an attack on the inn should never be made
Conloingeas [Koon ling'ahs]. Conall Cearnach [Con'nal Kar'nach].
106
GAELIC FOLK TALES
if it were only for the sake of that one man, the
comely and gracious Cormac Conloingeas.”
“Your wishes will have no weight in this mat-
ter. It is not of Cormac, but of yourself you are
thinking, I know you well, you are but a poor
fighter and the mists of weakness are darkening
round you. No one, either old man or story teller,
will be able to say that I drew back from this
fight before I had gone through it.”
“That is all well enough for you to say, Ing-
cel,” said Lomna. “You will live to take part in
many another fight ; and you will bring away the
head of a strange king with you from this one;
but, as for me, my head will be the first to be
tossed to and fro tonight.”
“What did you see after that?” said Ferogain
to Ingcel interrupting the conversation.
“I saw a room in which were three tender
youths, wearing cloaks of silk with golden fasten-
ings. Their golden hair was as curly as a ram's
head. A golden shield and the candle of a king's
house was over each one of them, and they were
favorites of the entire household. Can you tell
me who they were Ferogain?”
But Ferogain was weeping so that the tears
ran down the front of his cloak, and it was a long
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
107
time before he could control himself sufficiently
to speak. “O little ones !" he said then, “1
have good reason for weeping. Those three fair
youths are the king's sons Oball, Obline and
Corpre Findmor."
“Ah, grief is ours if that story be true," said
the other sons of Dond Dessa, “for none are
more worthy of love than the king's sons. They
are mannerly, brave and kind. All who have
been with them regret parting from them.
Shame on him who would destroy them!"
“I saw after that," continued Ingcel, “a man
with a golden bush of hair the size of a reaping
basket. A long, heavy, three-edged sword was in
his hand, and he carried a red shield speckled
with rivets of white bronze between plates of
gold."
“That man is known to all men of Eire," said
Ferogain, “He is Conall Cearnach, son of
Amergin ; of all the men in the world he is dear-
est to Conaire. The shield he carries is the
Lam-tapaid. When the attack on the inn is made
Conall Cearnach with his Lam-tapaid will be at
every one of its seven doorways. What did you
see after that, Ingcel?"
“I saw" he said, “a big brown man with short
Amergin [Ow'er gin]. Lam-tapid [ Lav-tap' pee] : The Quick-Hand.
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GAELIC FOLK TALES
brown hair, who wore a red speckled cloak and
his shield was black with clasps of gold. With
him were two chief men, in their first greyness,
and black swords hung at their sides. One of
them had in his hand a great spear with fifty
rivets through it. He shook the sword over his
head and struck the haft against the palm of his
hand three times and then plunged it into a great
pot that stood before them, and when he was put-
ting it in, there were flames on the shaft. Who
were those men, Ferogain?”
“That brown man is Muinremar, son of Geir-
gind, one of the champions of the Red Branch.
One of his companions is Sencha, the beautiful
son of Ailell. The man with the spear is Du-
ach, the Beetle of Ulster, and the spear in his
hand is Celthair’s Luin. It was in the battle of
Magh Tuireadh, and was brought from the East
by the three children of Tuireann. When the
hour of battle is near, it flames up of itself, and
it must be kept in a caldron of water or it will
pierce whoever grasps it.”
“And after that”, said Ingcel, “ I saw a room
in which were nine fair haired men with speckled
cloaks. Above them were nine bagpipes, and the
ornaments they wore emitted a brilliant light.”
Muinremur [Win row' [cow] er]. Geirgind [Gar 'gin]. Sencha
[Shan'cha]. Celthair’s Luin [Kelt'yher’s Lin].
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
109
“Those are the nine pipers from the hill of the
Sidhe at Bregia,” said Ferogain, “They came to
Conaire because of his great fame. They are
the best pipers in the whole world. They are
good fighters; but to fight with them is to fight
with a shadow ; for they kill, but cannot be killed,
because they are from Sidhe.”
“And next I saw three very large men, terrible
to look at. Their clothing was made of rough
hair, and each one of them held a club of iron in
his hand. They stood alone sad and silent ; every
one in the house avoiding them. Who were
those men Ferogain?”
Ferogain was silent for a while and then he
answered : “I do not know who these men can be
unless they are the three giants Cuchulain spared
the time he took them from the men of Falga.
He would not let them be killed because of their
strange appearance. Conaire bought them from
Cuchulain after that and they are with him yet.”
“I saw nine men in the north part of the house,”
said Ingcel, “having manes of very yellow hair,
and short linen dresses and purple cloaks without
brooches, broad spears, and red curved shields.”
“I know those men:” said Ferogain, “they are
three royal princes of Britain; Oswald, Osbrit
Cuchulain [Kooh' ul lan]: The most renowned of the Red Branch
Knights, A Pagan order which flourished in the first century of the
Christian era. Cuchulain was called the mightiest hero of the
Scots. Scots: A name by which the ancient inhabitants of Ire-
land were known in history and song.
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GAELIC FOLK TALES
of the Long Hand, and Lindas, and their foster
brothers, all of whom are with the king.”
“And three Red Men I saw after that” ; Ingcel
continued, “red shields above them, red spears in
their hands and their three red horses were
bridled in front of the inn.”
“These are three false and deceitful champions
from the Sidhe,” said Ferogain. “They were sen-
tenced by the king of the Sidhe to be thrice de-
stroyed by the king of Teamhair, and Conaire
is the last king through whom they will be
destroyed. It is to work out their own destruc-
tion they are come. What more did you see?
Tell us more, O Ingcel of Britain, for with thy
one eye thou hast seen more than most other
men could see with two.”
“I saw a white haired man, partly bald and in
his ears were rings of gold. In his hands were
nine swords, nine shields, and nine golden apples.
He kept throwing each one of them upward and
not one would fall on the ground, but all would
rise and fall past each other like bees on a sunny
day. But when I looked at him he let everything
drop to the ground, and the people about him
cried out in amazement; and the king, who was
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
111
sitting near by, said to him: 'We have been to-
gether since I was a little boy, and your tricks
never failed until tonight/ "
"'My grief/ he said, 'Fair master Conaire,
good cause there is for failure; an unfriendly
eye looked at me, and there is some bad thing in
front of the inn !' "
"When the king heard this he said : 'This re-
minds me of a dream I had a while ago: In my
sleep I heard the howling of my dog Ossar ; the
groans of wounded men ; and felt the bitterness of
a wind of terror on which was wafted the caoin-
ing which overcomes laughter/ "
"The man with the earrings was Taulchinne,
Conaire's juggler/' said Ferogain. "And tell me
now, what was the appearance of the king?"
"Stately and handsome is Conaire, the king,"
said Ingcel "and though young, wisdom and
power speak in his glances. His hair was purest
gold; the cloak about him the mist of a May
morning, changing from color to color, fading
and brightening with beauty untold. The brooch
he wore was a wheel of gold reaching from his
chin to his waist, and within his reach lay his
golden hilted sword."
"That was Conaire, the High King indeed,"
Taulchinne [Tawl kin'na].
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GAELIC FOLK TALES
said Ferogain. “Of all the kings of the world he
is the greatest and best and comeliest. In wisdom
bravery and eloquence he excels all men. A sim-
ple man peaceable and affectionate ; but, when his
anger is aroused, and he would right a wrong,
not all the champions of Eire and Alban will win
their battle while he is against them. And I
swear by the gods of the air, unless overcome by
thirst or sleep, that man alone would hold the inn
until help could gather to him from the wave of
Cliodna in the south, to the wave of Easruadh in
the west/’ “It is time for us to arise,” said
Ingcel then, “and proceed to the inn.”
So with that the outlaws rose and went on to
the inn, and the clamor of their voices was heard
round-about it.
Conaire was the first to hear them. “Listen,”
he said, “what is that noise without?”
“The shouts and challenges of fighting men.”
said Conall Cearnach.
“There are fighting men to meet them here!”
exclaimed the king.
“They will be wanted tonight!” added Conall,
raising his voice above contentious cries and
clash of weapons.
Cliodna [Clee'nah]. Easruadh [Ahs rod 'ah] : The three “tonnsM
or waves of Eire were the wave of Truagh beyond the mouth of the
river Bann, the wave of Ruraigh in Dundrum Bay and the wave
of Cliodna in Glandore harbor in the South of Cork.
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
113
CHAPTER IV.
Then Lomna Druth, the jester, ahead of all
the others, broke into the house, and the door-
keepers struck off his head, and it was tossed
three times in and out of the inn, just as he had
foretold.
And one man attacked another until all were
in the fray, and Conaire, the king, went out with
his people and many of the outlaws fell by his
hand. Three times the inn was set on fire and
three times the flames were extinguished, and
after that Conaire made his way back to where
his weapons lay, for he had been without them
through the first of the fight; then, fully armed,
he went out again and drove the outlaws back
with great slaughter.
“I told you” said Ferogain, “that all the men
of Eire could not take the house from Conaire,
the king!”
But the druids, who were along with the out-
laws, said: “His hour of triumph will soon end,
and the day of victory be ours !”
And by means of their druidical enchantments
Conaire became very thirsty, and went into the
inn for drink.
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GAELIC FOLK TALES
“A drink for me, MacCecht!” he cried.
“It is not such a command as that, MacCecht
is used to taking from Conaire, the king,” an-
swered MacCecht. “My duty is to keep you from
the men who seek to slay you ; but ask a drink of
your steward or your cup-bearers.”
Then Conaire called to his cup-bearers for
water. “There is none” they answered, “for
every drop in the house was thrown on the fire
to put it out.”
“Get me a drink,” said Conaire, speaking
again to MacCecht. “I may as well die by an
outlaw’s hand as for the want of water.”
Then MacCecht asked the champions of Eire
who stood near the king which they would rather
do: go out and find him a drink or stay in the
house and defend him. Conall Cearnach replied :
“Leave the defense of the king to us, and go
yourself for the water, for it was of you the king
asked it.”
So MacCecht went to look for a drink and
he took Conaire’s great golden cup with him
and he armed himself with the iron cauldron
spit. And as he sped through the outlaws he de-
fended himself with the spit; and many an out-
law died from a blow of it. And finally holding
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
115
his shield before him, he made a round with his
sword above his head and cutting down all before
him made his way past chiefs and champions.
And all that happened after that would make
too long a story. The people of the inn came out
to meet the attack of the outlaws; and, though
some died in the fight, many escaped. At last
there was no one left in the inn with Conaire
but Conall, Sencha and Duach.
Now Conaire from rage and fighting had
brought a fever of thirst upon himself ; which so
overcame him that after hours of suffering he
died.
When the other three men saw that the high
king was dead they went out, and, cutting their
way through their enemies, wounded and dis-
heartened escaped with their lives.
And Conall Cearnach, when he had sufficiently
recovered his strength, went on to his father’s
house. But half his shield was left in his hand,
and his two spears were bent and broken.
He found Amergin, his father, out before his
dun in Tailltin. “Those are fierce wolves that
have hunted you, my son,” said Amergin.
“I am not wounded by wolves but by fierce
fighting men,” said Conall.
Tailltin [Tel' tin]: Now called Telltown. Fairs were held herefrom
earliest times until the twelfth century. Tailltin is the Olympia of
the Gael.
116
GAELIC FOLK TALES
“What news have you brought from Da
Derga's inn?” said Amergin. “Is Conaire,
your king, still living?”
“The king no longer lives.” answered Conall.
“I swear by the gods the great tribes of Ulster
swear by, he is but a coward, who came out alive,
leaving his king dead among his enemies.”
“My own wounds are not white, my hero
father.” said Conall, showing his right arm cov-
ered with frightful gashes.
“That arm has indeed been in the fight,” said
Conall.
“There are many now lying in front of the inn
to whom it dealt dark death last night,” said
Conall.
Now, as to MacCecht: after he made his way
through the outlaws, he hurried to the well of
Ceasair, which was near by in Crith Cualann ; but,
there was not so much as the full of the cup of
water in it. On through the night he went from
lake to lake, and from river to river, but he could
not find the full of the cup of water in any of
them. At last he came to Uaran Garad on Magh
Ai, and it could not hide itself from him and so
he filled his cup and retracing his steps, reached
the inn before morning. And when he arrived
Ceasair [Kay'sar]. Crith [Creh]. Uaran Garad [Oo'ran Gaw'
rah] Magh Ai is in Roscommon.
THE ARD RIGH OF EIRE
117
there he saw two men in the act of striking off
Conaire’s head.
With a sure blow MacCecht struck one of
them, and severed his head from his body. Mean-
while the other man made haste to get away with
King Conaire’s head; but, MacCecht picking up
a stone threw it and wounded him unto death.
Then he stooped and poured the water from the
golden cup into Conaire’s mouth. And, after the
water was poured in, MacCecht heard the voice
of Conaire say: “A good man and a great
champion, brave of heart and hand is MacCecht.
It is he who found a drink of water for a thirsty
king. Gallantly he fought; no fear had he of
furious foes ! Would that I were alive once more
to honor MacCecht of the great name/’
After that MacCecht brought the body of the
high king to Teamhair and buried him there as
befitted a king. Then he went away to his own
province of Connacht, and the place he chose to
live in was called Magh Bron-gear, because of
his bitter grief.
And for many years after that no Ard Righ
was chosen to reign over Eire.
Bron-gear: Sharp sorrow.
Deirdre or the Fate of the
Sons of Usnach
CHAPTER I.
EDLIMID, the son of Doll, was
harper to king Conchubar. One f
day when Cathbad, the druid, was
at Fedlimid’s house he foretold
that a daughter would be born to
him. This was unexpected news
to Fedlimid. “I do not believe such a thing can
come to pass, Cathbad,” said he.
“Nevertheless,” said Cathbad, “I see by Druid
signs that on account of a daughter of yours, who
is not yet born, much blood will be shed in Eire,
and great heroes and candles of the Gael will lose
their lives because of her.”
“If that is your foretelling, you would better
keep it to yourself ; and, moreover, I do not believe
a word of it.” said Fedlimid, for the druid’s
prophecy angered him.
“But you will live to know my foretelling is
Deirdre [Dar'drah]. Usna [dos'nah]. Felimid [Fa'li meh].
Doll [Dholl]. Conchubar [Con' a choor]. Cathbad [Caw' faj.
118
DEIRDRE
119
true, Fedlimid,” replied Cathbad, “for I have
seen it all clearly in my mind.” And with that
he went away.
Though Fedlimid pretended not to believe what
the druid had said, still he pondered over it night
and day and feared in his heart it might come
true. And he determined that if the child should
be born, as foretold, he would hide her away
where no eye could see her, and no ear could
hear of her, and thus prevent the woe and war-
fare which Cathbad had said should be in Eire
for her sake.
And it happened in due course of time that the
prophecy came true, and soon after the child was
born Cathbad went to Fedlimid’s house and Fed-
limid was ashamed when he saw him and remem-
bered how he would not believe his words.
But the druid looked at the child and said : “Let
Deirdre be her name; disaster will come through
her.”
Then he took her in his arms and said “O
Deirdre, fair daughter of Fedlimid, there will be
trouble in Ulster for your sake! O flame of
beauty, you shall kindle deeds of wrath in Emain ;
heroes will fight for you, and the sons of kings
meet banishment and death! Woe and warfare
Emain [Aw' win] : Emain Macha, the residence of the kings of Ulster.
The remains are about two miles west of Armagh. They consist of
a great circular rath, with a deep trench outside of it, and a high
mound. The space within the rath is about thirteen acres. Emain
Macha was founded about three centuries before the beginning of
the Christian era by Macha of the Golden Hair, queen of Ulster.
120
GAELIC FOLK TALES
are in your fate, O fairest child! You will have
a little grave apart to yourself ; you will be a tale
of wonder forever, Deirdre.”
Then Cathbad went away, and Fedlimid still
seeking to avert the fate foretold for Deirdre
gathered together his men, and brought them
away with him to a great, lonely mountain, and
there he bade them make a little house by the
side of a round, green hillock and plant a garden
of apple trees behind it and build a wall about it.
And over the house he bade them put a roof of
green sods so that passers-by could not distin-
guish the house from the hillock, nor think that
any one lived there.
And Fedlimid chose Levarcham, daughter of
Aedh, to care for Deirdre, and sent her and his
child to live in the sod-covered house on the great,
wild mountain. And he made everything com-
fortable for them, and gave them a store of pro-
visions, and he told Levarcham that she should
never want for anything as long as she lived.
And so Deirdre and her foster mother lived on
the lonely mountain and no stranger discovered
their whereabouts for fourteen years. And
Deirdre grew as straight and trim as a rush in a
bog; and she was as graceful as the swan on the
Levarcham [Low' [cow] er kam]
DEIRDRE
121
wave; and fleet as the deer on the hill. And no
maiden in Eire was more beautiful or gentle.
And all the knowledge that Levarcham had
she imparted to Deirdre. There was not a blade
of grass, nor a bird singing in the wood, nor a
star shining from heaven but Deirdre knew the
name of it. There was one thing however which
Levarcham denied to Deirdre and that was the
friendship of any other person than herself.
But one cloudy, winter night a hunter lost his
way on the mountain, and as he wandered on he
was overcome with weariness and sleep, and lay
down on the side of the green hillock near
Deirdre’s house. And while he was lying there
he dreamed that he was near a house of the Sidhe,
and could feel the warmth which radiated from
it; and hear the suantraigh of the sidhe within.
And he called out in his dream : “Let whoever is
inside bring me in also, in the name of the sun
and the moon.”
Deirdre heard the voice and asked Levarcham
its meaning. “It is only the birds of the air who
have gone astray, and are trying to find one
another” said Levarcham, “but let them go
back to the branches of the wood.” Soon the
hunter cried out again in his dream, and again
Suantraigh [Shoon ' three] : Sleep, music.
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GAELIC FOLK TALES
Deirdre wished to know whence the sound came.
And again Levarcham answered: “The birds of
the air are looking for one another, let them go
past to the branches of the wood."
Then the third time the hunter called: “Let
whoever is inside bring me in also, in the name
of the elements, for I am perishing with cold and
hunger/'
“Oh tell me what is that, Levarcham?" said
Deirdre.
“Nothing for you to see, my child," answered
Levarcham, “nothing but the birds of the air;
they are lost to one another. Let them go past
to the branches of the wood; there is no place nor
shelter for them here tonight."
“O, Levarcham," said Deirdre, “the bird asked
to come in in the name of the sun and the moon ;
and you have told me we must never refuse what
is asked like that. If you will not let in the bird
that is perishing with cold and hunger, I must
do it myself."
So Deirdre drew the bolt from the leaf of the
door, and let in the hunter. And she offered him
a seat, and food, and drink.
“Come now and eat," then said Deirdre “for
you must be very hungry."
DEIRDRE
123
“Hungry and cold, indeed, was I when I came
into this house” said the hunter, “but, by my
word, the first glance from your bright eyes made
me forget it all/'
“How little you are able to curb your tongue,”
said Levarcham to him. “You are given the shel-
ter of a house and the warmth of a hearth on this
dark, winter night and the only thing asked in
return is that you keep quiet.”
“I am thankful for your kindness,” said the
hunter, “and surely I shall strive to talk as little
as possible; but, I swear by the oath my people
swear by, that if some of the people of the world
whom I know saw the loveliness that is hidden
away here they would soon take it from you.”
“Who are they?” said Deirdre.
“I will tell you,” said the hunter ; “they are
Naoise, son of Usnach, and Ainnle and Ardan,
his two brothers.”
“Describe these men to me,” said Levarcham,
“so that if wre should ever meet, I would know
them.”
“I can describe them no better than this:”
said the hunter, “their hair is black as the raven’s
wing; their skin is white as the swan’s. Their
cheeks are like the blood of the speckled, red calf
Ainnle [Ahn'leh]. Ardan [Awr'dhan ' ]. Naoise [Nee'sha].
124
GAELIC FOLK TALES
and the salmon of the stream or the deer of the
grey mountain cannot out-leap them. And the
head and shoulders of Naoise are above those of
all the other men of Eire.”
'That may all be” said Levarcham, instead of
thanking him for his description, "but do you go
away from here as fast as possible, and take
another road from that you came; and, by my
word, I have small thanks for you or for her who
let you in.”
"You need not send him away for saying what
he did to me,” interposed Deirdre, "for I already
knew about those three men; I saw them in a
dream last night, and they were hunting upon a
hill.”
But the hunter did not seek to tarry longer in
Levarcham’s house; and as he walked away he
kept thinking how lonely Conchubar, the Ard
Righ of Ulster, must be; for he had no wife to
greet him night and morning. And he thought
that if Conchubar could see the beautiful maiden
of the mountain he would bring her home and
make her his queen. "And,” he said to himself,
"I will get the good will of the king by telling him
where there is a maiden worthy in every way to
be his wife.”
DEIRDRE
125
So he went directly to the palace at Emain
Macha, and sent word to king Conchubar that he
had news for him, and begged him to hear it.
The king sent for him and asked him the
reason of his journey to Emain Macha.
“I have come to tell you, O King,” said the
hunter, “that I have seen the most beautiful
maiden that ever was born in Eire.”
“Who is this maiden?” said the king, “and
where did you see her ? It is strange indeed that
no one has told me of her before. Are you sure
it was not in a dream you have seen her ?”
“I am not telling you a dream, O king, but no
other man has seen this beautiful creature, nor
can anyone see her unless I tell him of her dwell-
ing place.”
“If' you will bring me where she is, you shall
have a good reward,” said the king.
“I will bring you there,” said the hunter.
“Remain with my household tonight,” said the
king, “and early tomorrow morning I and my
people will go with you.”
“I will stay,” said the hunter. And he stayed
that night in the household of king Conchubar.
Then Conchubar sent word to Fergus and
other great men of Ulster what he was about to
126
GAELIC FOLK TALES
do. And though it was early when the songs of
the birds began in the woods, it was earlier still
when Conchubar, the Ard Righ of Ulster, arose
with his little company of friends in the fresh
May morning. And the dewdrops were glisten-
ing on bush and flower as they journeyed along
toward the green hill where Deirdre was living.
And many a young man who had set out in the
morning with a glad, light step walked wearily
and slowly before the end of the day ; so long and
craggy was the way.
They were all happy when the hunter said,
pointing to a little valley on the side of the mount-
ain: “The maiden you seek lives in yonder vale,
and may no wind of misfortune blow your foot-
steps aside before you reach it; but, as for me, I
will go no nearer it than this.”
Conchubar and his friends then hastened to
the green hillock, and they knocked at the door of
Deirdre’s house. Levarcham called out that
neither answer nor opening would be given to
anyone whatsoever, and that she did not wish to
be disturbed.
“Open/’ said Conchubar, “in the name of the
Ard Righ of Ulster.”
When Levarcham heard Conchubar’s voice,
DEIRDRE
127
she knew it would be impossible to conceal
Deirdre any longer; so she hastened to let in the
king and as many of his people as could follow
him.
The king, when he beheld Deirdre, thought
that never in the course of the day, or in the
dreams of the night, had he seen so beautiful a
creature; and there and then he gave her his
heart full of love. And he put Deirdre up on the
shoulders of his men and she and Levarcham
were brought away to Emain Macha.
And Deirdre promised that, after a year and
a day had gone by, she would become the wife of
Conchubar and queen of Ulster. Conchubar
gave her for companions pleasant, modest maid-
ens of her own age and a teacher from whom she
learned the things most useful for young girls to
know. And she became wise and skillful, and
more beautiful, and Conchubar loved her more
than anything in the world.
128
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER II.
One day, when Deirdre and her companions
were walking on a hill near Emain Macha in the
pleasant sunshine, they saw three men coming
toward them. And as they came nearer Deirdre
remembered what the hunter had said, and
thought of the three men she had seen in her
dream, and she said to herself: “These men I
now see are the three sons of Usnach, and the
tallest one is Naoise, he who is head and
shoulders above all the men of Eire.”
The three brothers passed by without turning
to look at the young maidens on the hill side.
They were singing as they walked and the sing-
ing of the sons of Usnach was enchantment and
sweetest music to all listeners. And when
Deirdre heard it, so great a love for Naoise came
into her heart, that she could not help calling
him, and her voice rang clear: “Naoise, Naoise,
son of Usnach, take me with you.”
Now Ainnle and Ardan, when they heard her
call, knew it was the beautiful young maiden from
the court of Conchubar; and they feared that if
Naoise, their brother, should see her he would
want her for his wife; for she was not yet mar-
DEIRDRE
129
ried to the king. So they said to each other : “Let
us hasten our steps for the road is long and the
dusk of evening coming on.” They wished to
get out of sight and hearing of Deirdre before
Naoise should see her. But he had heard her and
he said: “What cry was that? It seems to me it
is not well for me to answer, and yet it is not easy
for me to refuse.”
“It was but the cry of Conchubar’s wild ducks”
said his brothers. “Let us quicken our steps for
we have a long road to travel and the dusk of
evening is coming on. ”
They did so, and were speedily widening the
distance between Deirdre and themselves when
again she called: “Naoise, Naoise, son of Usnach,
take me with you.”
“What cry is this that strikes my heart?
I do not know whether to answer it, or to dis-
regard it,” said Naoise.
“It is the honking of Conchubar's wild
geese,” answered his brothers, “let us not tarry
to listen, but make the best of our time for the
darkness of night is coming on.”
So they hurried along, and the distance be-
tween themselves and Deirdre grew wider and
wider, and again her call came fainter and
130
GAELIC FOLK TALES
sweeter: “Naoise, Naoise, son of Usnach, take
me with you.”
“Someone is calling me,” exclaimed Naoise
“so sweet a voice my ears have never heard, but
it strikes my heart like steel.”
“You have heard but the scream of Conchu-
bar’s lake swans,” said his brothers.
“It is a human cry I have heard,” replied
Naoise, “and I swear by my hand of valour I will
go no further until I find the one who has given
it.”
So Naoise turned back and met Deirdre and
he thought he had never seen a woman so beauti-
ful ; and there and then he gave her a greater
love than he had ever given any vision, or living
creature.
And he lifted her high on his shoulder, and
said to his brothers : “Now indeed we may hasten
our steps, and end our journey while yet some
light is left in the sky.”
“Leave the maiden here,” said Ainnle and
Ardan, “it will bring disaster upon us thus to
take her away.”
“Nevertheless, she shall go with us,” said
Naoise, “and we will leave Conchubar’s kingdom
before he has a chance to take her from us.”
DEIRDRE
131
So the sons of Usnach called their people
together and that night they set out with three
times fifty men; three times fifty women, and
three times fifty wolf dogs, and in their midst was
Deirdre.
And they traveled from one part of Eire to
another; from Essruadh in the south, to Beinn
Etair in the east, and they were often in danger
of being destroyed by Conchubar’s devices.
One time the Druids raised a thick and thorny
spinney before them, but Naoise and his brothers
cut their way through it. Another time, while
they were crossing a ford, through the spells of
the Sidhe the waters rose around them and they
barely escaped drowning, one and all.
And finally they sailed away to the island of
Alban, and settled in a lonely place. And when
hunting failed them they fell upon the cattle in
the fields about them. And the men of Alban, in
order to avenge themselves for the destruction of
their cattle, gathered together to make an end of
the sons of Usnach and their people.
But they called upon the king of Alban for aid,
and he lent them a friendly hand in all their en-
counters and difficulties.
All this time the king of Alban knew nothing
132
GAELIC FOLK TALES
of Deirdre nor had the sons of Usnach let any
stranger see her. But it happened that early one
morning the king's steward made his way into
the house where Naoise and Deirdre lived; and
waiting but for one glimpse of her wonderful
beauty, he hastened back to the king and said:
“O King, I have done what has never been done
before: I have found a woman who would make
a fitting wife for you. She dwells on the shore
of Loch Ness, and is well worthy of you, O king
of Alban. But before she can be queen, Naoise
must die; for it is his wife of whom I am speak-
ing."
“I will not harm Naoise," said the king, “but
go you secretly to the beautiful woman and bid
her come to see me."
The steward brought the king’s message to
Deirdre, but she sent him away, and told all he
had said to her, to Naoise. So the king sent the
sons of Usnach into every hard fight, hoping they
would meet their death, but they won every
battle and came safe again home. And they
moved to Loch Eitche near the sea and for a
while lived there in peace and comfort. And for
food they caught the salmon of a spring-fed
stream, from the door of their dwelling; and,
Etcha : In present glen Etive in Scotland.
DEIRDRE
133
from their windows, they killed the deer of the
grey hills.
And when Naoise went to the court of Alban’s
king, none of the great men there were more
splendidly attired. He wore a bright purple
cloak of finest fit, trimmed with fringe of gold.
IHis coat had fifty hooks of silver, and a brooch
on which were a hundred polished gems. His
weapons were a gold-hilted sword ; two blue-
green spears with bright points and a dagger,
the color of yellow gold, which had a hilt of
silver.
And the two children of Naoise and Deirdre
were named Gaiar and Aebgreine; and were
given into the keeping of Mannanan MacLir, the
sea god, and were reared by him with greatest
care in Emain of the Appletrees. And Man-
nanan had Bobaras, the poet, come to impart
learning to Gaiar; and when Aebgreine of the
Sunny Face was grown to womanhood she be-
came the wife of Rinn, son of Eochaidh Iuil of
Tir-na-n-og.
Gaiar [Gay'ar]. Aebgreine [Av gra'nah]. Eochaidh Iuil [Och'
ee Yule]. Tir'-na-n-og ' : Land of the young.
134
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER III.
And Conchubar still reigned in Ulster. And
he gave a splendid feast for the greatest of his
nobles; and at the feast were Cathbad the druid;
Geanan, son of Cathbad; Ferceirtne; Sencha,
son of Ailell; Conall Cearnach; Fergus and
Cuchulain of Muirthemne, Knight of the Red
Branch of Ulster, and many other poets and
heroes. And songs were sung, poems recited,
and branches of kinship were traced by an-
nalists and never was there a merrier feast until
Conchubar, the king, raised his voice and said:
“I desire you to tell me: have you ever seen a
better house than this house of Emain, or a better
hearth than rr^ hearth in any place you have ever
been?”
“We have never seen better house nor hearth
than that of Conchubar, the king,” they answered
with one accord.
“But can you not think of something that is
wanting?”
“We know of nothing from the loss of which
we suffer” said they. “I do not think as you do.”
said Conchubar. “I know of something that is
wanting and that is the presence of the three best
Geanan [Gan 'nan]. Ferceirtne [Far kart' nah].
DEIRDRE
135
candles of the Gael; the three noble sons of
Usnach: Naoise, Ainnle and Ardan. No woman
in the world should be able to keep them from us,
they are sons of a king and they would defend the
high kingship against the best men of Eire.”
“We would have said that long ago, if we had
dared.” said they. “These three alone could de-
fend the province of Ulster, for they are lions of
endurance and bravery.”
“If that is so,” said Conchubar, “let us send a
messenger to Alban to ask them to come back
again.”
“Whom will you send with the message?”
asked they all together.
“There is only one way to decide that,” said
the king. “Naoise is under geasa not to return
with any man but one of these three: Conall
Cearnach, Fergus or Cuchulain; and now I will
find out which of these three loves me best.”
Then the king called Conall aside, and asked
him: “What would you do with me if I should
send you for the sons of Usnach, and they were
destroyed by me — a thing I do not mean to do ?”
“As I am not going to bring them,” said
Conall, “I will say that any Ulster man who
136
GAELIC FOLK TALES
harmed the sons of Usnach would get shorten-
ing of life and sorrow of death from me.”
“I see well enough,” said Conchubar, “that you
are no friend of mine.”
Then he called Cuchulain to him and asked him
the same that he had asked Conall. “I give you
my word — as I am not going,” said Cuchulain,
“that if the sons of Usnach were killed in Ulster,
it is not to one person only, but to every Ulster-
man I thought unfriendly to them, I would give
shortening of life and the sorrow of death.”
“I see, indeed,” said Conchubar, “that you are
no friend of mine.” And he sent Cuchulain away.
Fergus was the next to be called, and he was
asked the same question as were the other two.
“Whatever may happen,” answered Fergus,
“your blood will never flow by my hand; but, if
any other man should seek to harm the sons of
Usnach, I hope it may be in my power to give
him shortening of life and sorrow of death.”
“I see it is you, Fergus, who must go for them,”
said Conchubar, “and do not delay but set out by
sunrise tomorrow. And when you return, I put
you under geasa to let the fort of Borach, son
of Cainte, be your first stopping place and as soon
Borach [Bawr ' Sch]. Cainte [Kant ' yah].
DEIRDRE
137
as you arrive there, be it day or night, send on the
sons of Usnach to Emain.”
The king and Fergus went back to the com-
pany together and Fergus told them that it was
he who had been chosen by Conchubar to fetch
the sons of Usnach back to Emain Macha.
Then Conchubar went to Borach and told him
to prepare a feast for Fergus on his return from
Alban with the sons of Usnach. “And,” said
Conchubar, “he is under geasa not to refuse to
partake of your feast.”
Fergus set out at sunrise the next morning, and
he brought with him no guard nor helpers, but
only his sons: Fair-Haired Iollan, Buinne Ruadh;
and Cuillan, the shield-bearer, bringing with him
his shield.
They journeyed on until they reached the
dwelling place of the sons of Usnach in Alban.
They had three houses: The house where the
food was prepared; the house where they ate; and
the house where they slept.
When Fergus came to the harbor of Loch
Eitche he gave a great shout. Naoise and
Deirdre were playing chess, and Naoise heard the
shout and said to Deirdre : “That is the shout of
a man from Eire.”
Iollan [E'lan]. Buinne Ruadh [Bun 'yah Roo'ah].
138
GAELIC FOLK TALES
“I think it is the cry of a man of Alban/' said
Deirdre.
A second shout from Fergus sounded from the
harbor. “That is, indeed, the shout of a Gael
from Eire,” said Naoise again.
“It is not,” said Deirdre, “let us go on play-
ing.”
But a third shout was heard, and by that time
the sons of Usnach knew that it was the shout of
Fergus, and Naoise asked Ardan to go out and
meet him.
Then Deirdre told Naoise that she knew when
she had heard the first shout who gave it.
“Why did you not say so then, my queen?”
said Naoise.
“Because of a vision: Last night I saw three
birds who came to us from Emain Macha with
three drops of honey in their mouths. They left
the honey with us and took away with them three
drops of our blood.”
“What is your interpretation of the vision, my
queen?”
“My interpretation is this: Fergus is coming
from Conchubar with a message of peace for us,
for honey is not sweeter than a message of peace
sent from a false heart.”
DEIRDRE
139
“Do not attach such importance to your vision,
Deirdre,” said Naoise, “it signifies nothing but
troubled sleep and gloomy thoughts. It is a long
time since Fergus came into the harbor, go to
meet him, Ardan, and bring him here at once.”
So Ardan went to meet Fergus, and his two
sons : “My love to you, dear comrades,” said he.
“My fondest love to you Ardan,” said they.
“And what news have you brought from
Eire?” asked Ardan.
“The best news I have for you” said Fergus,
“is this: Conchubar, Ard Righ of Ulster, has
sworn by the earth beneath him, by the heaven
above him, and by the sun that travels to the west,
that he will not rest by day nor sleep by night
until the sons of Usnach come back to the coun-
try of their birth ; and he has sent us to ask you
there.”
But when they had come to Naoise’s house
and delivered their message to him, Deirdre said :
“It is better for the sons of Usnach to remain
here, for they have greater sway in Alban than
Conchubar has in Eire.”
“Even so,” said Fergus, “one’s own country is
better than all things else; no pleasure is so great
as that of living in your own home; and no sor-
140
GAELIC FOLK TALES
row can equal the sorrow of having to dwell in
an alien land.”
“That is true,” said Naoise, “Eire is dearer to
me than Alban, though here I have greater riches
and power than I had there.”
So Naoise consented to return with Fergus,
but it was greatly against Deirdre’s will that he
did so. “Remain in Alban O Naoise, my hus-
band! I know by my dream the sons of Usnach
will meet only treachery from Conchubar.”
“Lay down your dream, Deirdre, on the
height of the hills, lay your dream on the sailors
of the sea and the rough, grey rocks ; for in peace
we will go and in peace we will be received by
Conchubar of the Red Branch.”
But Deirdre spoke again: “I see Conchubar
merciless in his dun; I see Naoise without
strength in battle ; I see Ainnle and Ardan with-
out shield or breastplate; I see the falseness of
Fergus; and Deirdre weeping, weeping bitterly!”
“Do not be swayed by the dream of a woman,”
said Fergus to Naoise, “Do not slight the friend-
ship of the Ard Righ, but come at once to Ulster.”
So Naoise consented to go, and Fergus
promised him protection, if necessary against all
the men of Eire.
DEIRDRE
141
And when they were in their ships upon the
sea, Deirdre looked back to Alban and said:
“My love to you, O land to the east!
It is with grief I leave your pleasant bays, your
flowery plains and heathery hills.
Dear to me is the land to the east, I would not have
come away from it, but that I came with Naoise.
Glen Masan, my grief! We were rocked to pleasant
sleep over the wooded harbor of Masan!
Glen Eitche, my grief! The home of the sun is Glen
Eitche !
Glen-da-Rua, my grief! Sweet is the voice of the
cuckoo on the bending branch of the hill above
Glen-da-Rua !
Dear to me is Droighin, dear are its waters over the
clean sands!
I would never have come away from it but that I came
with Naoise !”
Droighin [Dri' yeen].
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GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER IV.
It was not long until they reached Dun Borach,
and Borach greeted them in the friendliest
way, and told Fergus he had a feast prepared for
him. And when Fergus said he could not delay
for a feast but must hasten to Emain Macha,
Borach said: “There are geasa on you Fergus
not to leave Dun Borach until you have partaken
of the feast. And it is Conchubar’s wish that you
send the sons of Usnach ahead of you to Emain
Macha/’
Fergus was very angry when he heard this:
“You have done an evil thing, you and Conchu-
bar, thus putting me under geasa,” said he; and,
turning to Naoise, asked whether he should go
or remain.
Deirdre was the one to answer : “It should be
easy for you to choose whether to refuse the feast
or forsake the sons of Usnach.”
“I will not forsake them,” said Fergus “for I
will send my sons Iollan and Buinne with them.”
“By my word,” said Naoise, “you speak as if
we sought protection, but up to this time we have
always protected ourselves and we shall do the
same now.”
DEIRDRE
143
Then Naoise and his brothers, and Deirdre,
and the sons of Fergus went away, leaving
Fergus with a sad heart at Dun Borach.
Naoise and his companions journeyed on and
when they were near Emain Macha, Deirdre
said: “I will give you a sign by which you will
know whether Conchubar is dealing fairly with
you or not.” *
“Tell me your sign, my queen,” said Naoise.
“If Conchubar invites you into his own house
where the nobles of Ulster are, then he will deal
fairly with you ; but, if he sends you to the house
of the Red Branch, then beware of treachery,”
answered Deirdre.
They soon arrived at Emain Macha, and
Naoise took the hand- wood and struck the door.
The doorkeeper asked who was there, and when
they told him he brought word to Conchubar.
Conchubar then called his stewards and serving
men to him and asked them if the house of the
Red Branch was well supplied with food and
drink, and they replied that if the seven armies
of Ulster should come there hungry and thirsty
they would find plenty to satisfy them.
“If that is so,” said Conchubar, “bring the sons
of Usnach to the House of the Red Branch.”
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GAELIC FOLK TALES
Then Deirdre said: “Let us return to Alban;
even yet it is not too late.”
But the sons of Usnach and the sons of Fergus
said it would be a cowardly thing to return. So
they went on to the House of the Red Branch,
and with them went Conchubar’s stewards and
serving men. And all except Deirdre and the
sons of Usnach ate and drank and were glad and
merry.
Meanwhile Conchubar was seeking for some-
one to bring him word whether Deirdre was as
beautiful as she had been when he first saw her.
“And if she is,” he said, “I will bring her to
Emain Macha with edge of blade and point of
spear; in spite of the sons of Usnach, however
brave they may be.”
“I will go to the House of the Red Branch,”
said Levarcham, “and I will bring you word of
Deirdre's appearance.”
Levarcham loved Deirdre better than anyone
else, and since the time when she had gone
with Naoise to Alban, Levarcham had often
visited her; bringing messages from Eire to
Deirdre and from Deirdre to Eire. And she
went now to the House of the Red Branch, and
near it she saw a troop of strange, armed men;
DEIRDRE
145
and she knew they must have been brought
thither to aid Conchubar in battle.
And when Levarcham found Naoise and Deir-
dre they were playing chess and resting after
their long journey from Alban. She greeted them
fondly, and said: “You should not spend your
time playing chess, there are greater things to be
done. Conchubar has sent me to bring him word
whether Deirdre is as beautiful as she used to
be ; and great is my grief to think of the treacher-
ous deeds which will be done in Emain tonight,
to quench the three brightest candles of the Gael.”
And Levarcham wept at parting with Naoise
and his people and she went back to Conchubar
and he asked her what tidings she had brought
of Deirdre.
“I have good news and bad news for you” said
Levarcham.
“Tell me both,” said Conchubar.
“The best news is this: The sons of Usnach,
the bravest and mightiest men of all the world,
have come to you and beside them your kingdom
will need no other defense. And the worst news
is this : She who was the loveliest of women when
she left Emain, has lost the beauty which she used
to have.”
146
GAELIC FOLK TALES
At first Conchubar believed Levarcham, but
after thinking the matter over he concluded to
send another messenger ; and he sent Gelban, the
son of the king of Lochlann, to bring him word
concerning Deirdre. “For,” said he, “if she has
the same appearance she used to have, there is
not on the ridge of the earth nor the waves of the
sea a more beautiful woman.”
So Gelban went to the House of the Red
Branch, and through an open window he saw
Naoise and Deirdre, and near them was the chess
board on which they had been playing. And as
Gelban stood there Deirdre caught a glimpse of
him and told Naoise someone was watching them
through the window. And Naoise the moment
he heard this threw a chessman, which he hap-
pened to have in his hand, and put out one of Gel-
ban’s eyes.
Then Gelban went back, as best he could to
Conchubar. “You were merry and pleasant go-
ing away; but you are sad and cheerless coming
back” said Conchubar to him.
Then Gelban told his story, and Conchubar
said: “The man who made that throw will be
king of the world, unless his life is shortened.
But tell me is Deirdre still beautiful?”
DEIRDRE
147
“No woman could be more beautiful than Deir-
dre,” said Gelban, “and, although Naoise put out
one of my eyes, I would have stayed to look at
her with the other, had you not bidden me hasten
back again.”
Gelban’s story filled Conchubar with envy, and
he commanded the men of his army to take Deir-
dre from the sons of Usnach.
So they went to the House of the Red Branch
and they gave three great shouts around it, and
they put red flames of fire to it. And fierce was
the fight between the sons of Usnach and their
people, and Conchubar, and the men of Ulster.
Buinne, the son of Fergus, fought with great
valor until three fifths of the fighting men out-
side fell by his hand. Then Conchubar sought
out the man by whose hand so many of his heroes
had fallen, and said to him : “I will make you a
good gift if you will leave off fighting.”
“What gift is that?” said Buinne. “ A hun-
dred cantreds of land,” said Conchubar.
“What beside?” said Buinne.
“My own friendship and counsel,” said Con-
chubar.
“I will accept your gift,” said Buinne.
It was a beautiful, fertile mountain which the
148
GAELIC FOLK TALES
king gave him but it turned barren that same
night, and nothing green ever grew on it again,
and it was called the Mountain of the Share of
Buinne.
And Conchubar’s son, Fiacra the fair, and
Iollan met in the fight around the House of the
Red Branch. And Fiacra carried Conchubar’s
shield, the Ochain, and his two spears, and his
sword, the Gorm Glas, and Iollan threw Fiacra
down under his shield; and the shield roared, as
it always did when the person who carried it was
in danger. And the three waves of Eire, the
Wave of Truagh, the Wave of Cliodna and the
Wave of Rudraigh roared in answer to it.
And Conchubar and the sons of Usnach met in
the fight and Ainnle said to Conchubar: “Al-
though we took white-handed Deirdre from you,
we have done you many kindnesses at other
times ; and now you should remember them. The
day your ship full of silver and gold was going
to wreck upon the sea, we gave you our own
ship while we went swimming to the hafibor.”
“No thanks do I give you for that,” said Con-
chubar, “nor for fifty times that.”
Then Ardan said: “We did another deed of
kindness, and now is the time for you to remem-
The Fews mountain in Armagh, as far as is known it has always been
barren. Ochain [O ' kawn] : The Roarer. Gorm Glas [Gurm
Glas] : The Blue Green.
DEIRDRE
149
ber it. The day your speckled horse failed you
on the green of Dundealgan we gave you our
grey horse to bring you swiftly over the road/’
“No thanks do I give you for that, nor for fifty
times that,” said Conchubar.
And then Naoise said: “Now is the time for
Conchubar, the king, to remember how the sons
of Usnach came to his aid in the seven battles
of Beinn Etair.”
“For fifty times that service you should get
no thanks now,” said Conchubar.
And then more terrible became the fight, and
the sons of Usnach linked their shields together
around Deirdre, and they made three leaps over
the walls of Emain, killing three hundred men.
Conchubar was filled with fear when he saw
this, so he went to Cathbad, the druid, and said
to him: “Go, Cathbad, to the sons of Usnach,
and work enchantment on them, or they will
destroy the men of Ulster forever ; and I give you
the word of a true hero that I do not seek to
harm them, but only to make terms with them.”
Cathbad believed the king, and he forthwith
used all his arts and power to hinder the sons of
Usnach. Through his enchantment the sem-
blance of a dark sea rose around them, and they
Dundealgan : Gaelic name of Dundalk.
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GAELIC FOLK TALES
dropped their swords and attempted to swim with
Deirdre through the boisterous billows. So it
was that the sons of Usnach fell into the hands
of Conchubar’s men. And it is too sorrowful
to tell how Maine of the Rough-Hand, son of the
king of Norway, when asked to do so by Con-
chubar, slew the sons of Usnach with the sword
which Mannanan MacLir had given to Naoise.
As for Deirdre, they left her to herself. And
she wept and tore her fair hair and throwing
herself on the ground near the grave which they
were digging for the sons of Usnach she lamented
bitterly:
“Long is the day without the sons of Usnach;
three hawks of Slieve Cuilenn; three lions of the
fort of Conrach ; three heroes not good at
homage; their fall is a cause of sorrow!
“Long is the day without the sons of Usnach :
three pillars in the breach of battle ; three pupils
that were with Scathach three dragons of Dun
Monad; grief for the three brightest candles of
the Gael!
“My sight is gone from looking at the grave
of Naoise; dig not the new grave narrow; I am
Deirdre, the unhappy; I would lie in the grave
with mighty Naoise.”
Slieve [Schlev]: Mountain. Scathach [Skaw'haw]: Protection.
Monad [Mo'nah].
DEIRDRE
151
After this caoin, Deirdre kissed the body of
Naoise three times; and then she arose and fled
through the night until she came to where waves
were breaking on the strand of a little loch. And
a fisherman and his wife saw her, and they
brought her into their cabin and offered her food
and drink. But she would not eat, nor drink, nor
sleep; but, with her head upon her knees, she
kept weeping for the sons of Usnach.
And when Conchubar found that Deirdre was
gone he sent Levarcham to look for her and bring
her back to the palace, that he might make her
his wife.
Levarcham found her in the fisherman’s cabin
and bade her return to Emain Macha, where she
would have riches and protection and whatever
she might desire. And Levarcham gave her this
message from Conchubar: “Come up to my
house, O beautiful branch, with the dark eye-
lashes; come, and have no fear on your fair face
of hatred, jealousy or reproach.”
But Deirdre said, “I will not go up to his
house, I do not desire gold nor silver, nor horses
nor lands ; but only leave to lie in the grave with
the sons of Usnach.”
And again Deirdre lamented:
Caoin [Keen] : A lament.
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GAELIC FOLK TALES
“Delightful to Conchubar, the king, are pipes
and trumpets; but the singing of the sons of
Usnach was more delightful to me.
“The deep sound of waves was in their sing-
ing; dear were their pleasant words; dear their
grey eyes searching the forest; and their steps
were pleasant on the high, dark hill.
“Do not break the strings of my heart, Con-
chubar; though Naoise is dead my love’ is strong
to live.”
So Levarcham went back to tell Conchubar
what Deirdre had said, and Deirdre went out on
the strand of the little loch. The night was
dark and her eyes were dim with weeping, and
she walked into the water where it made a deep
pool by the shore ; and the turbid waves brought
her happiness as well as death, for she did not
wish to live after Naoise.
Conchubar, when he heard Deirdre’ s message
from Levarcham, went down to the fisherman’s
cabin bringing five hundred men with him.
And they found Deirdre’s white, lifeless body
on the strand. Then remorse and sorrow came
to Conchubar because of the sad fate which
through him had befallen the sons of Usnach
and Deirdre. And they buried Deirdre near
DEIRDRE
153
the sons of Usnach and they raised flagstones
over their graves and on them wrote their
names in Ogham.
And Fergus, son of Rogh, on the day after
the death of the sons of Usnach came to Emain
Macha and, when he found out what deeds of
treachery and terror had been done he, with
Cormac Conloingeas, Conchubar's own son, and
Duach, the Beetle of Ulster, made an attack
on Conchubar’s house. And many of his men
were killed and Emain Macha was destroyed
by fire.
After that Fergus and his men went into Con-
nacht and took service with Ailell and Maeve at
Cruachan. And that is how they came to fight
with the men of Connacht in the war for the
brown Bull of Cuailgne.
Rogh [Roy]. Ailell [Awl'yeel] Cruachan [Crucawn']. Cul-
aigne [Cool' yah].
Oisin s Tale of Tir-na-n-og
CHAPTER I.
SHORT time after the battle of
Gavra, in which many of our heroes
fell, and among them Carbri of the
Liffey, king of Eire, we were hunt-
ing on a dewy morning near the
shore of Loch Lein. The trees and
hedges near and far were fragrant with blos-
soms, and birds sang in the branches. We soon
raised the deer from the thickets, and as they
bounded over the plain our hounds followed in
full cry.
But the hunt was not more than well begun
before we saw a rider coming swiftly toward
us from the west, and we soon thereafter per-
ceived that it was a maiden on a white steed.
She reined in, as she approached, and we all
ceased from the chase on seeing her; for never
before had Finn or the Feine beheld so lovely
a maiden. A slender, golden diadem encircled
Oisin [Aw' sheen]. Loch Lein: Correct Irish name of the present
“Lakes of Killarney.” Finn: Chief of the Feine [Fay'nah] or
national militia of Eire. The modern Fenian is derived from Feine.
154
OISIN IN TIR-NA-N-OG
155
her head, and she wore a brown robe of silk
spangled with stars of red gold, which was
fastened in front with a golden brooch; and fell
from her shoulder until it swept the ground.
Her yellow hair floated like a sunlit cloud about
her. Her eyes were dear as drops of dew upon
the grass, and blue as the blossoms of the wild
ailestar. She sat more gracefully than the swan
upon Loch Lein, holding her bridle with her
small white hand and curbing her steed with a
golden bit. Her white steed was covered with
a smooth, flowing mantle; and shod with four
shoes of pure, yellow gold. And in all Eire
a better, or more beautiful, steed could not be
found.
As the maiden rode slowly into Finn’s pres-
ence, he addressed her courteously in these
words: “Who art thou, O lovely princess? Tell
us thy name and the name of thy court and re-
late to us the cause of thy coming.”
She answered in a sweet and gentle voice:
“Noble king of the Feine, I have had a long
journey this day, for my country lies far off in
the western sea. I am the daughter of the king
of Tir-na-n-og and my name is Nia of the
golden hair.” “And what is it that has caused
156
GAELIC FOLK TALES
thee to come so far across the sea? Has thy
husband forsaken thee, or has some other evil
befallen thee?”
“My husband has not forsaken me, for I have
never been married or betrothed to any man.
I love thy 'noble son, Oisin, and that is why I
have come to Eire. It is not without reason I
have given him my love, and undertaken this
long journey; for I have often heard of his
bravery and gentleness, and his noble bearing.
Many princes and high chiefs have sought me
in marriage, but I never consented to wed, for
my heart was indifferent to all men until it was
moved with love for thy gentle son, Oisin.”
“When I heard these words ; and when I
looked on the lovely maiden, with her dew-bright
eyes and glossy golden hair, I was all over in
love with her. I went to her and taking her
slender hand in mine, I told her she was a mild
star of brightness and beauty; and that I pre-
ferred her to all other princesses of all lands
whatsoever, and would gladly make her my wife.”
“Then,” said she, “I place you under geasa,
which true heroes never break through, to come
with me on my white steed to Tir-na-n-og, the
land of never ending youth. It is the most de-
OISIN IN TIR-NA-N-OG
157
lightful and the most renowned country under the
sun. Gold and silver and jewels; and honey and
wine are there in abundance, and the trees bear
fruit and blossoms and green leaves at the same
time all the year round. You will be given a
hundred swords, and a hundred robes of silk
and satin; a hundred swift steeds and a hundred
slender hounds, of keenest scent. You will have,
for your own, cows without number; and flocks
of sheep with fleeces of gold; a coat of mail that
cannot be pierced ; and a sword that never misses
a stroke and from which no one ever escaped
alive. There are feastings and harmless pastimes
each day. Harpers shall delight you with their
sweet music. A hundred warriors fully armed
shall always await your call; and you may wear
the diadem of the King of Tir-na-n-og. This
diadem has never before been given to anyone
under the sun, and it will guard you day and
night in tumult, and battle, and danger of every
kind. Lapse of time shall bring you neither
decay nor death, and you shall be forever young
and gifted with unfading beauty and strength.
All these delights you shall enjoy, and many
others that I do not mention; and I, myself,
158
GAELIC FOLK TALES
will be your wife if you come with me to Tir-
na-n-og.”
I replied that she was my choice above all the
maidens in the world, and that I would willingly
go with her to the land of youth.
When my father and his champions heard me
say this, and knew that I was going from them,
they raised three shouts of lamentation and
grief, and Finn came up to me and took my hand
saying sadly: “Woe is me, my son, that you are
going away from me, for I fear that you will
never return !”
His noble countenance was dimmed with sor-
row; and, though I fully believed that I should
see him again, I could not repress my tears as I
kissed him farewell.
I then took leave of my dear companions and
mounted the white steed, while the lady kept her
seat before me. She gave the signal and the
steed galloped swiftly and smoothly toward the
west, until he reached the strand, and when his
gold-'shod hoofs touched the waves he shook
himself and neighed three times. He made no
delay but plunged forward at once, moving over
the face of the sea with the speed. of a cloud
shadow on a March day. The wind overtook
OISIN IN TIR-NA-N-OG
159
the waves, and we overtook the wind so that
we straightway lost sight of land ; and saw noth-
ing but billows tumbling before us and billows
tumbling behind us.
160
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER II.
But after a while other shores came into view,
and we saw many wonderful things on our jour-
ney: islands and cities we saw; lime white man-
sions and bright grianans, and lofty palaces. A
hornless fawn once crossed our course, bounding
nimbly from the crest of one wave to the crest
of another, and close after her in full chase was
a white hound with red ears. We saw also a
lovely young maiden mounted on a brown steed,
with a golden apple in her hand. She passed
swiftly by, and a young warrior on a white
steed plunged after her. This warrior wore a
long, flowing mantle of yellow silk; and held in
his hand a gold-hilted sword. I understood
none of these things and, wondering greatly,
I asked the princess what they signified.
She answered: “Heed not what you see here,
Oisin, for all this is as nothing compared with
what you shall see in Tir-na-n-og.”
At last we saw at a great distance a palace,
more splendid than all the others, rising over
the waves on the very verge of the sea. As we
drew near its front gleamed and glittered like
the morning sun. I asked the lady what royal
Grianans [Gree ' ah nans] : Sun-bowers ; summer pavilions.
OISIN IN TIR-NA-N-OG
161
house this was, and who was the prince that
ruled over it.
“ This country is the land of Virtues/ ” she
replied. “ ‘Its king is the great Fomor of the
Blows, and its queen the daughter of the land
of Life. This Fomor brought the lady away by
force from her own country, and keeps her a
prisoner in his palace. But she has put him
under geasa, that he cannot break through, never
to ask her to marry him, until she can find a
champion to fight him in single combat. But
as yet no hero has come hither courageous
enough to meet the giant and rescue the lady
from bondage/ ”
A blessing on you, golden haired Nia, I re-
plied, I have never heard music sweeter than
your voice; and, although I feel pity for the
princess, your story is pleasant for me to hear;
and, moreover, I will go to the palace and try
to overcome the Fomor in single combat and
thus free the lady.
So we came to land, and as we drew nigh to
the palace, the lovely young queen met us and
bade us welcome.
She led us in and seated us on chairs of gold.
Choice food was placed before us, and drinking
162
GAELIC FOLK TALES
horns, and methers of mead, and golden goblets
of sweet wine were offered us. When we had
eaten and drunk, the mild, young princess told
us her story; while tears welled out of her soft,
dark eyes. She ended by saying ; “ 'Alas, I can
never return to my own country and to my
father’s house as long as this great and cruel
giant is alive.’ ”
When I heard her sad words, and saw her
tears falling, my heart was again filled with a
desire to aid her; and bidding her cease griev-
ing, I gave her my hand as a pledge that I would
meet the giant and either slay him or fall myself
in her defence.
While we were yet speaking, we saw the giant
coming toward the palace, carrying a load of
deer skin on his back; and holding a great iron
club in his hand. He was large of body and ugly
and hateful in appearance. When he saw us he
threw down his load and turned a surly look
on the princess; then, without greeting us, or
showing the least mark of courtesy, he challenged
me to battle in a loud, rough voice.
It was not my wont to be dismayed by a call
to arms or to be terrified by the sight of an
enemy; and so I went forth at once without the
OISIN IN TIR-NA-N-OG
163
least fear. But although I had fought many bat-
tles in Eire against wild boars, and enchanters
and foreign invaders, never before did I find it
so hard to preserve my life. We fought for three
days and three nights without food or drink or
sleep, for the giant gave me not a moment for
rest; and, neither did I at any time allow him
to desist from the fray.
At length when I beheld the two princesses
weeping in great fear, and when I called to mind
my father’s deeds in battle, a furious valor arose
within me and with a sudden onset I felled the
giant to the earth and, instantly, before he could
recover from the blow I gave him, I cut off his
head.
When the maidens saw the monster lying dead
upon the ground, they uttered three cries of joy
and they came to me and led me into the palace.
I was covered with gory wounds and a sudden
dizziness of brain and feebleness of body siezed
me. But the daughter of the king of the land
of Life applied precious balsam and healing
herbs, to my wounds; and in a short time I was
healed and my cheerfulness of mind returned.
Then I buried the giant in a deep and wide
grave, and I raised a great cairn over him and
164
GAELIC FOLK TALES
placed on it a stone with his name engraved in
Ogham.
We rested that night, and at the dawn of the
next day Nia said to me that it was time for us
to resume our journey to Tir-na-n-og. So we
took leave of the daughter of the king of the
land of Life. Although the princess was joy-
ful when she thought of her release from the
cruel giant, she wept at our departure, and we
were not less sorry to bid her farewell.
When we had again mounted the white steed,
he galloped toward the strand; and, as soon as
his hoofs touched the waves, he shook himself and
neighed three times. We plunged forward over
the clear, green sea, with the speed of a March
wind on a hillside, and soon we saw nothing but
billows tumbling before us, and billows tum-
bling behind us. And once again we saw the
fawn chased by the white hound with red ears,
and the maiden with the golden apple passed
swiftly by, followed by the young warrior in
yellow, silken robe; mounted on his white steed.
And, as before, we passed many strange islands
and white palaces.
Dark clouds now hid the sky from view. A
storm arose, and the sea was illumined by con-
OISIN IN TIR-NA-N-OG
165
stant flashes of lightning. But though the winds
blew up from every point of the heavens, and the
waves towered and roared around us, the white
steed kept his course straight on, moving calmly
and swiftly as before, through the foam and
blinding spray.
He was not delayed or disturbed in the least,
and he did not turn to the right nor to the left.
166
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER III.
When at length the storm abated and the sun
again shone brightly, I looked around and saw
a country, near at hand, all green and full of
flowers; with beautiful smooth plains, purple
hills, and bright lakes and water falls. Not far
from the shore stood a palace of surprising
beauty and splendor. It was everywhere adorned
with gold and gems of every color: blue, green,
crimson and yellow; and on either side were
grianans, shining with precious stones, and built
by artists the most skillful that could be found.
I asked Nia the name of that delightful country,
and she answered me : “This is my native coun-
try, Tir-na-n-og, and there is nothing I have
promised which you will not find in it.”
As soon as we reached the shore we dis-
mounted, and as we did so we saw advancing
from the palace a troop of noble warriors, all
clad in bright garments who came forth to meet
and welcome us. Following these were a stately
glittering host with the king at their head, wear-
ing a robe of bright yellow satin, and a crown
that sparkled with gold and diamonds. The
queen came after attended by a hundred lovely
OISIN IN TIR-NA-N-OG
167
young maidens. And in all the world could not
be found a king and queen who could excel these
in beauty and gracefulness and majesty.
After they had kissed their daughter the king
took my hand and said aloud in the hearing of
the host: “This is Oisin, son of Finn, for whom
my daughter Nia traveled over the sea to Eire.
This is Oisin who is to be the husband of Nia
of the golden hair. We give you a hundred
thousand welcomes brave Oisin. You will be
forever young in this land. All kinds of de-
lights and innocent pleasures are awaiting you,
and my daughter shall be your wife, for I am
king of Tir-na-n-og.”
I thanked the king with all my heart, and I
bowed low to the queen after which we went into
the palace, and there we found a banquet pre-
pared.
The feasting and rejoicing lasted for ten days,
and on the last day I was wedded to gentle Nia
of the golden hair.
I lived in the land of youth more than three
hundred years, but at the end of that time it
seemed to me as if only three years had passed
since the day I parted from my friends.
168
GAELIC FOLK TALES
Nevertheless, I began to have a longing to
see my father, Finn, and my old companions.
So I asked leave of Nia and of the king to
visit Eire. The king gave permission; and Nia
said: “I will give consent; though, my heart is
sorrowful, for I fear you will never return to
me.” I replied that I would surely return and
that she need not feel any doubt or dread; for
the white steed would bring me back in safety.
Then she spoke these words; and they seemed
very strange to me:
“I will not refuse this request, though the
thought of your journey afflicts me with great
grief and fear. Eire is not now as it was when
you left it. The great king Finn and the war-
rior Feine are all gone and you will find instead
an army of champions who do battle, not with
sword and plunder ; but, with deeds of mercy and
kindness, whose laws are of forgiveness not re-
venge, and whose king is the Tailkenn, the lord
of a country where the high places are accorded
to the meek and lowly, not to the proud and
powerful.
“Now think well on what I say to you and
keep my words in your mind : If even once you
alight from the steed, you can never come back
OISIN IN TIR-NA-N-OG
169
to me. Again I warn you: If you place your
feet on the green sod of Eire, you will never re-
turn to this lovely land. A third time, Oisin,
my beloved husband, a third time I say to you:
If you alight from the white steed you will never
see me again !”
I promised that I would faithfully remember
every word she had spoken to me, and that on
no account would I alight from the white steed.
Then, as I looked into her gentle face and marked
her grief, my heart was weighed down with sad-
ness, and I could not restrain my tears. But
even so, my mind was bent on coming back to
Eire.
170
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER IV.
When I had mounted the white steed, he gal-
loped directly toward the shore. We moved
swiftly as before over the clear, green sea. The
wind overtook the waves, and we overtook the
wind, so that we straightway left the land of
youth far behind us.
And as before we passed many islands and
cities, until at length we landed on the beautiful
shores of Eire.
As I traveled through the country I scarcely
recognized the old places for everything was
strangely altered. Nowhere was there any sign
of Finn and his host. I began to fear that Nia’s
words were true.
At length, I espied in the distance a company
of little men and women all mounted on little
horses, and when I came near they greeted me
kindly and courteously. They looked at me with
wonder and curiosity, and marveled much at my
great size, and the beauty and majesty of my
person. I asked them about Finn and the Feine
warriors: if any of them were still living; or, if
any sudden disaster had swept them away.
And one replied: “We have heard of the hero
OISIN IN TIR-NA-N-OG
171
who, three times three generations ago, ruled in
Eire; and who never had an equal for bravery
and wisdom. The poets of the Gael have sung
his deeds and the deeds of the Feine, and it is
related in their songs that Finn had a son named
Oisin. And the poets tell that Oisin, when he
had reached the height of manly beauty and
valour, went away with a young, fairy maiden
to Tir-na-n-og; and his father and his friends
sorrowed greatly for him; and sought him long
and in many places. But he was never seen
again.”
When I heard all this, I was filled with
amazement; and my heart grew heavy with sor-
row. I silently turned my steed from the won-
dering people and straightway set out for Alvin
of the green hill slopes. As I journeyed along
I could not free my mind from forebodings of
further sorrows awaiting me. When I reached
Alvin I found my fears were justified; for I found
the hill deserted and lonely, and my father's
palace in ruins and overgrown with grass and
weeds.
Slowly and sadly I turned my face from the
home of my childhood, and fared through the
land in every direction in search of my friends.
The Gael: The race at present called Irish. Gaelic: The language of
the inhabitants of Ireland. The Gaels of Ireland are the oldest
branch of the Aryan race. Eirinn [Ar'yan]: Genitive of Eire; a
native of Eire. Alvin [Awl'lyn]: Headquarters of the Feine of
Leinster. Chief residence of Finn in Kildare.
172
GAELIC FOLK TALES
But I met only crowds of little people who re-
garded me with wonder. Nowhere did I meet
anyone who knew me or whom I knew. I visited
all the old time haunts of the Feine; but, like
Alvin, they were all solitary and in ruins.
Finally I came to Glenasmole where the beau-
tiful Dodder flows ; and where many a time I had
hunted with the Feine. There I saw a crowd
of people in the glen. As I approached one of
them came forward and said to me: “Come to
us, thou mighty hero, and help us out of our
strait for thou art a man of vast strength.”
I went to them and found a number of men
trying to raise a large, flat stone. It was half
lifted from the ground. But those who were
under it were not strong enough either to raise
it further or to free themselves from its weight.
And they were in great distress, and on the point
of being crushed to death.
I thought it a shameful thing that so many
men should be unable to lift this stone which
Oscar, if he were alive, would take in his right
hand and fling over the heads of the feeble
crowd. After I had watched them for a little
while, I stooped forward and seized the flag with
one hand, and putting forth my strength, I flung
Glenasmole : The glen of the thrush. Dodder : small stream flowing
through Wicklow and Dublin. Oscar [Us' kar] : Son of Oisin.
OISIN IN TIR-NA-N-OG
173
it seven perches from its place, and relieved the
little men. But my action put great strain on
the golden saddle girth of the white steed under
me, and bounding forward to keep myself from
falling I suddenly came to the ground on my two
feet.
The moment the steed felt himself free, he
shook himself and neighed three times. Then,
starting off with the speed of a cloud shadow on
a March day, he left me standing helpless and
sorrowful. Instantly a woeful change came over
me. The sight of my eyes began to fade; the
ruddy beauty of my face vanished; my strength
left me and I fell to the earth, a withered old
man, blind, wrinkled and feeble.
The white steed was never seen again. I
never recovered my sight, my strength, or my
youth, but have lived sorrowing for my gentle,
golden haired Nia, and thinking back to Finn,
my father, and the companions of my youth all
lost to me now, yet hoping that sometime, some-
where I shall meet them again.
The Pursuit of the Gilla Dacker
CHAPTER I.
N La Baal Tinne, the feast of the
coming of good weather, Finn, the
son of Cumal, feasted the Feine and
the chief people of Eire at Allen of
the Green Hill Slopes. And when the feast was
over the Feine reminded Finn that it was time to
begin the chase through the plains and glens and
wildernesses of Eire. During the first half of
the year, that is from La Baal Tinne until La
Samnah, the feast of the close of good weather,
the Feine were accustomed to spend their time
in hunting; and during the second half of the
year, from La Samnah until La Baal Tinne, they
lived in the mansions and in the betas, or houses
of hospitality of Eire.
And this time when the Baal Tinne feast was
over, Finn and his chiefs chose the province of
Munster for the first chase; and they set out
with dogs and men and traveled through Offaly,
and by the twelve mountains of Evlinn, until
Gilla: Servant. Dacker [Dyak ' er] : Troublesome. Cumal [Cool].
Finn: Same as in preceding story. Allen: Same as Alvin. La
Samnah [Law Sow'nah]: The first day of November. La Baal
Tinne: The first day of May ; Day of the Baal fire. Offaly [O fahl'
yah]: District comprising portions of Queen’s County and Kildare.
174
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER 175
they came to Knockainey; and they pitched their
tents on a level spot near its summit. Then the
chase was set in order and the hunters scattered
themselves over the broad plains of Munster.
They hunted over Keen Avrat of Sleive Keen,
and over Coil Na Drua; and, through the forest
fastnesses of the patrimony of Curoi MacDara
their fleet hounds followed the deer. By the
shores of Loch Lein, and along the blue-waved
Suir full many a quarry fell before them; and
ever with keener zest they fared onward, feast-
ing and singing by day; resting by night on
fragrant beds of fern and fir until they crossed
the speckled summit of Slieve-na-man.
But Finn, after a short chase over the plains
of Cliach, went back to rest on the hill of
Knockainey. With him was his son Oisin, Gaul
MacMorna of the Mighty Deeds, Finn's shield-
bearer, Skeabrac, Conan Mael and Ban Mac
Breasal. The sounds of the hunt came back to
Finn and his companions on the hill of Knock-
ainey, borne across the broad plains of Cliach;
and they listened with pleasure to the cheers and
shouts, the whistling and signaling of the mighty
heroes and to the cries of the sharp-nosed
Coil na Drua [Wood of the Druids], Curoi Mac Dara : a contempo-
rary of Cuchulain. Slieve-na-man : Mountain of the woman.
Conan Mael [Kaw nawn' Mwal],
176
GAELIC FOLK TALES
dogs, as they routed the deer from their coverts
and the badgers from their burrows.
Then said Finn to Ban MacBreasal: “Thou
wast ever a skillful champion and a shrewd ; un-
wearied in war or in the chase. Go, I pray thee,
to the highest point of this hill whose summit
shadows us and from there note narrowly the
progress of the chase, and watch for the safety
of the hunters, for I fear the Druidical spells of
the Dedannan.”
As Ban MacBreasal stood on the high hilltop,
grasping his broad spears, and scanning the four
points of the sky, he saw a Fomor of great size
coming toward the hill leading a horse. This
Fomor was the ugliest looking giant Ban Mac-
Breasal had ever seen. His bloated body was
supported on clumsy, crooked legs and broad,
flat feet turned inward. His face was covered
with bushy hair and his thick lips opened over
long, crooked teeth. With his head poked for-
ward, and his face turned up, he stared straight
at Ban MacBreasal. A broad shield of a sooty
hue, rough and battered, hung over his back.
At his left hip was a long, heavy, straight sword;
and in his left hand two thick-handled, broad-
headed spears, old and rusty as if they had not
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER 177
been used for years. In his right hand he held
an iron club, which he dragged after him upon
the ground; and as it trailed along it tore up a
track as deep as the furrow a farmer plows with
a yoke of oxen.
The giant’s horse was even larger in propor-
tion than the giant himself, and every bit as
ugly. His tangled, scraggy hair was of a dingy
black; and his ribs and all the points of his big
bones could be counted through his hide. His
legs were crooked and knotty, his neck twisted;
and his jaws so long and heavy that they made
his head look twice as large as it should for his
body. The giant held him by a strong halter and
seemed to pull him forward by main force.
Every now and then the lazy beast stood still
and, when he did so, the giant struck him on the
ribs with his iron club ; and the blow sounded as
loud as the thundering of a great billow against
the rough rocks of the sea coast.
Ban MacBreasal was not a man to be easily
frightened, but, when he saw the giant and his
horse coming toward him, he sprang from his
seat and, snatching up his arms, ran down the
hill slope with his utmost speed to the place
where he had left the king and his companions.
178
GAELIC FOLK TALES
He found them sitting around a chess board,
deep in a game. When they saw Ban Mac-
Breasal’s frightened mien, they started to their
feet and, looking in the direction that he pointed,
they saw the big Fomor leading his ungainly
horse slowly up the hill. They gazed in silent
wonder until at last he approached them; and,
bowing his head and bending his knee, saluted
the king. Finn returned his salute and after
giving him leave to speak, asked him to tell his
name and from which of the three divisions of
the world he had come; and, whether he be-
longed to the noble or the ignoble races. The
king also asked what was his profession or craft
and why he had no servant to attend to his horse.
“If indeed,” said Finn, “such an ugly old spectre
of an animal can by courtesy be called a horse.”
The big man answered him: “O King of the
Feine, whether I come of a noble or an ignoble
race I cannot tell, for I know not who were my
father and my mother. As to where I came
from; I am a Fomor of Lochlann in the north.
I have no particular dwelling place, but travel
about from one country to another, serving the
great lords and nobles of the world ; and, receiv-
ing wages for my services. I have often heard,
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
179
O King, of your greatness and royal bounty,
and I have come to ask you to take me into your
service for a year. You wish to know why I
have no servant for this great horse of mine?
It is because it is enough to provide for me with-
out having also to feed my servant ; for, at every
meal I eat, my master must give me as much food
and drink as would be sufficient for an hundred
men. My name is the Gilla Dacker, and it is not
without good reason that I am so called, for there
never was a lazier or worse servant than I, or
one who grumbles more at doing a day’s work
for his master.”
“Well,” said Finn, “I fear you are not a very
pleasant fellow, but as I have never refused any
man service, and wages, I will not refuse you.”
Whereupon Finn and the Gilla Dacker made
covenants and the Gilla Dacker was taken into
service for one year.
“I see no one here worthy to put a hand to
my horse,” said the Gilla Dacker after the agree-
ment between Finn and himself was completed,
“so I will myself place him among your horses
for pasture. I value him very highly and it
would grieve me very much should any harm
befall him.” Then turning to the King, he said:
130
GAELIC FOLK TALES
“I put him under your protection, O King, and
under the protection of all the Feine.
Everyone of the Feine present burst out laugh-
ing to hear the Gilla Dacker thus showing con-
cern for his miserable, old skeleton of a horse.
The big man, however, gave no heed to their
merriment; but, taking the halter off his horse’s
head, turned him loose in the pasture. The
wretched looking old animal, instead of begin-
ning to graze as every one thought he would,
cocked his long, hard, switchy tail out straight
as a rod, and running among the other horses
threw up his hind legs and kicked about on this
side and on that. He tore through the thickest
of the herd, butting at them with his hard, bony
forehead; and, opening his lips with a vicious
grin, snapped at the Feme’s high bred horses with
his sharp, crooked teeth; nor did he desist until
every animal in the herd bore some mark of his
injuries. At last he left them and ran toward a
small field where Conan Mael’s horses were graz-
ing by themselves. Conan seeing this shouted
in great alarm to the Gilla Dacker to fetch away
his horse, and not let him work any more mischief.
“The only way to prevent my horse from join-
ing the others is to put the halter on him and
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
181
hold him,” said the Gilla Dacker. “This will
keep the poor beast from grazing and leave him
hungry at the end of the day; but,” said he to
Conan, “there is the halter and if you are in any
fear for your animals, go yourself and fetch
my horse from the field.”
Conan was in a mighty rage when he heard
this ; and, just as the big horse was about to cross
the fence into the small field, he snatched up the
halter and running forward with long strides
threw it over the animal's head and tried to lead
him back. But the horse refused to move. His
body and legs became as stiff as if they were
made of wood; and, though Conan pulled and
tugged with might and main, he was not able to
stir the beast an inch from his place. The Gilla
Dacker looked on in a perfectly indifferent man-
ner, and the others laughed at Conan’s perplex-
ity, but no one offered to relieve him. At last
Fergus, the poet, said “I never would have be-
lieved, Conan Mael, that you could be brought
to do horse service for knight or noble, in all the
world. But now indeed I see you have made
yourself horse-boy to an odious, foreign giant!
Would it not be better for you, if indeed you must
so debase yourself, to mount the old horse, and
182
GAELIC FOLK TALES
obtain revenge for all the trouble he is giving by
riding him across the country, over the hill tops
and down into the deep glens and valleys, and
through stones and bogs and all sorts of rough
places, until you have broken the heart in his
big, ugly body?”
Conan, stung by the words of the poet and the
jeers of his companions, jumped upon the horse’s
back and began to beat him mightily with his
heels, and with his two big, heavy fists. But the
horse seemed not to take the least notice, and
stood as if he had been turned into stone.
“I know the reason he does not go,” said
Fergus, “he has been accustomed to carry a
horseman far heavier than you, that is to say;
the Gilla Dacker, and he will not move until he
has the same weight on his back as heretofore.”
So Conan called to his companions and asked
which of them would mount with him, and help
avenge the damage done to their horses.
“I will go,” said Coil Croda, the Battle
Victor, and up he went; but the horse did not
move.’ Dara MacMorna next offered to go, and
mounted behind the others; and, after him went
Angus MacMorna; and the end of it was that
fourteen men of the clans Baskin and Morna
Morna [Morn 'yah].
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
183
got on the horse’s sharp, bony back and each one
added to the thrashing begun by Conan Mael.
When the Gilla Dacker saw the Feine beating
his horse at such a rate he seemed very angry,
and addressed the King in these words: “I now
see very plainly that all the fine accounts which
I have heard of you and the Feine, O Finn Mac-
Cumal, are false and I will not stay in your serv-
ice— no, not another hour. Judge for yourself
whether any one with the least regard for his
beast would allow such ill usage as your men are
giving my horse, and indeed without any cause
whatever. Though short the time since I en-
tered your service, I consider it far too long; so
pay me my wages and let me go my way.”
But Finn refused to pay him until the end of
the year.
“Well, wages, or no wages, I will now seek
another master,” said the Gilla Dacker, and he
stood up as straight as a pillar and, turning his
face toward the southwest, he walked slowly
away.
The horse immediately followed his master
taking the fifteen men away on his back. When
the Feine saw this they raised a loud shout of
laughter, mocking them. The Gilla Dacker,
184
GAELIC FOLK TALES
after he had walked some little distance, looked
back to see how it fared with his horse. Then
he tucked up his skirts. And if you know what
the speed of a swallow is flying across a moun-
tain side; or, the dry, fairy wind of a March
day sweeping over the plains, you can imagine
the swiftness of the Gilla Dacker, as he ran down
the hillside toward the southwest. And the
horse, although he carried a heavy load, galloped
after his master, plunging and bounding for-
ward as if he had nothing at all on his back.
The men now tried to throw themselves off but
could not, for they found that they were firmly
fastened on the horse’s back. Conan looked back
and shouted to Finn and the Feine, asking them
if they were content to see their friends carried
off by such a horrible, old, spectre of an animal.
Finn and the others hearing this started in
pursuit of the Gilla Dacker; and away they all
went over the wide, heathy summit of Slieve
Luachra; and from there to Corea Divna. And
they ran along by Slieve Mish until they reached
Clogan Kincat, near the deep, green sea.
It was not until the horse had reached the
beach, just at the water’s edge, that Ligan
Lumina, who had kept ahead of the other pur-
Luachra [Loch'ra]. Cloghan [Cl5k hawn']: Causeway. Cloghan
Kincat: Cat-head stepping stones.
Ligan: Jetsam; goods which sink when cast into the sea and remain
under water.
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
185
suers, succeeded in catching him by the tail with
his two hands. Ligan pulled with all his might
thinking to hold the horse until the rest of the
Feme should arrive. But his pulling was of no
avail for the horse plunged through the waves
dragging Ligan after him, thus making it im-
possible for him to either help his friends or free
himself, as his hands clung fast to the tail of the
horse.
186
GAELIC FOLK TALES
CHAPTER II.
The great horse continued his course through
the sea, fetching the sixteen Feine with him, and
the waters retired before them leaving a dry,
firm strand under them; while behind them fol-
lowed close a wild, raging, sea, which seemed
ready at any moment to topple over their heads.
But although the billows were tumbling and
roaring all around them neither horse nor riders
were wet by so much as a drop of brine or a dash
of spray. Finn and the others, left behind on
Knockainey, watched the horse and men until
they lost sight of them in the sea.
After a long silence Finn spoke and asked the
chiefs what they thought best to do. But they
replied that he far excelled them in all knowledge
and wisdom; and they told him they would fol-
low whatever counsel he and Fergus, the poet,
should see fit to give. Then Finn told Fergus
to speak his mind, and Fergus said: “My counsel
is that we go straightway to Ben Edar, where
we will find a ship waiting ready to sail ; for our
forefathers, when they wrested the land from
the Dedannans, bound them by covenant to main-
tain this ship forever fitted with all things need-
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER 187
ful for a voyage. They were to do this in return
for the privileges of Ben Edar ; and in order that
if, at any time, one of the noble sons of Gael
Glas wished to sail to distant lands from Eire,
there would be a ship lying at hand in the har-
bor ready for his voyage.
They all agreed to this counsel, and without
delay turned their steps northward toward Ben
Edar. They had not gone far when they met
two youths of noble mien, fully armed ; and wear-
ing over their armor beautiful mantles of scarlet
silk fastened with brooches of gold. After the
king had returned their salute and had given
them leave to converse, he asked who they were ;
whither they had come; and, who the prince or
chief was that they served. Then the elder
answered: “My name is Feradach, and my
brother’s name is Foltlebar; and we are the two
sons of the king of Innia. Each of us professes
an art, and it has long been a point of dispute
between us which art is the better, my brother’s
or mine. We have heard there is not in the world
a wiser man than thou, O King, and we have
come to ask thee to take us into thy service,
among thy household troops for a year; and at
the end of that time to give judgment between
Innia: India.
188
GAELIC FOLK TALES
us in the matter.” Finn then asked what were
the two arts they professed.
“My art,” answered Feradach, “is this: If
at any time a company of warriors need a ship,
give me only my joiner’s ax, and my crann-tavall
and I am able to provide it without delay. All
I ask them to do is this: cover their heads close
and keep them covered while I give the crann-
tavall three blows of my ax. Then I tell them
to uncover their heads, and lo, there lies the
ship in the harbor ready to sail.”
Then Foltlebar spoke and said he:
“This, O King, is the art I profess: On land
I can track the wild duck over nine ridges and
nine glens and never lose track of her until I
drop upon her in her nest; and, on sea my skill
is to follow the same, if only I have a good ship
and crew.”
“You are the very men I want,” said Finn,
and he told them the story of the Gilla Dacker
and his horse from beginning to end. “And,”
he added, “we are now on our way to Ben Edar
to seek a ship, so that we may follow this giant
and his horse and rescue our companions.”
“I will get you a ship that will sail as swiftly
as a swallow can fly,” said Feradach. “And,”
Crann-tavall [thowl]: Wooden fulcrum for the oar in rowing.
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
189
said Foltlebar, “I will guide your ship in the
track of the Gilla Dacker until you shall have
laid hands on him, in whatsoever part of the
world he may seek to hide himself.” Forthwith
they returned to the beach of Cloghan Kincat
and they covered their heads while Feradach
struck three blows of his ax on the crann-tavall.
And lo, when he bade them look, they saw a
ship fully fitted out with oars and sails, and with
all things needful for a long voyage riding be-
fore them in the harbor. Then Kylta MacRonan
went to the top of a high hill, and turning his
face inland gave three mighty shouts, which
were taken up by the people of the next valley,
and after them by those of the next valley be-
yond. And thus was the signal given in every
glen and valley and on every plain and hillside
of the two provinces of Munster.
When the Feine heard these shouts, they ceased
their sports for they knew their King was in
danger. And they formed themselves into ranks,
and troops, and battalions and began a march
toward Cloghan Kincat. After they arrived,
Finn told them the story of the Gilla Dacker’s
flight through the sea; and he picked out fifteen
men: the bravest and best; the most dexterous,
190
GAELIC FOLK TALES
and the swiftest of foot among the Feine, to ac-
company him in the quest for their friends which
he was about to undertake in the ship provided
by Feradach.
Among those chosen to go with Finn, the chief
men were Dyna, of the Bright Face; Gaul Mac-
Morna; Fergus, the Poet; and, Feradach and
Foltlebar. Sad indeed was the leave-taking
when they sailed away ; for no one knew how far
the king might have to go through unknown
seas, or what spells and dangers he and his men
might have to encounter in this pursuit.
After a few days fair sailing on the cold,
bright sea, a great storm came from the west
and the black waves rose up against them, so
that they had much ado to keep their vessel from
sinking. But through the roaring of the tempest ;
through rain and blinding spray, Foltlebar, their
steersman, never stirred from the helm, or
changed his course; but kept close on the track
of the Gilla Dacker.
At length the storm abated and the sea grew
calm; and when the darkness had cleared away
the ship’s crew as they looked off to the west
saw not far away a vast, rocky cliff, towering
over their heads to such a height that its top
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
191
was hidden in the drifting clouds of the upper
air. It rose up sheer from the very water; and
in the distance appeared to be as smooth as glass.
Foltlebar, after looking to the four points of the
sky, could track the Gilla Dacker as far as the
cliffs, but no farther. So he told the heroes
that he thought it was on the top of that rock
the giant lived, and that in some way or other
the horse must have made its way up the face
of the cliff with their unfortunate companions.
The words of Foltlebar filled the heroes’ hearts
with sorrow and vexation, for they saw no way
of reaching the top of the rock, and feared that
they would have to give up the quest and return
to Cloghan Kincat.
When they had spent some time In silent
thought, Fergus, the poet, arose and said: “My
friends, we have here among us one who in his
youth was taught in Fairyland by Mannanan
Mac Lir ; and by Angus, the wisest of the Dedan-
nans. All that a warrior should learn, and much
druidical lore beside he is skilled in, and there
are none who excel him in manly arts and cham-
pion feats. But it seems that these accomplish-
ments of his go for naught; for, now when we
stand most in need of them, he sits idly here with
192
GAELIC FOLK TALES
us in our ship and never once offers to make an
attempt to scale the face of the cliff and bring us
tidings of our lost friends.”
When Dyna, of the Bright Face, heard this
speech his cheek grew red with shame. “It is of
me you speak these words, Fergus,” he said,
“and your reproaches are just.”
And he arose, and girded on his armor, and
took his two long, deadly spears, the Crann-boi
and the Ga-derg, one in each hand; and the bat-
tle fury of a warrior descended on him, so that
he looked a dreadful foe to meet in single com-
bat. Leaning on the handles of his spears, he
leaped with a light, airy bound on to the nearest
shelf of rock.
Crann-boi [bwee]: The yellow spear. Ga-derg: The red javelin.
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
193
CHAPTER III.
He climbed from ledge to ledge while his com-
panions watched him eagerly from below. After
much toil he measured the soles of his two feet
on the green sod at the top of the rock, and
when he turned to look at his friends in the ship
far below, a feeling of dizziness and dread al-
most overcame him. Looking inland, he saw
spread out before him a lovely plain, bordered
with pleasant hills; and shaded with groves of
many kinds of trees.
It would bring happiness to the heart of any
mortal to behold the beauty of this country, and
listen to the warbling of the birds, the humming
of the bees among the flowers, the rustling of
the wind through the trees and the pleasant
voices of the streams and waterfalls.
Dyna set out to walk across the plain.
He had not gone far, when he saw before him
a mighty tree whose high branches, laden with
fruit, overtopped all the other trees of the plain.
This tree was surrounded at a little distance by
a circle of pillar stones; and, one stone taller
than the others stood in the center near the tree.
Beside this pillar stone was a spring with a large,
194
GAELIC FOLK TALES
round pool as clear as crystal ; the water bubbled
up in the center of the pool and flowed away
toward the middle of the plain in a slender
stream.
Dyna was glad when he saw the well, for he
was hot and thirsty after climbing the cliff. He
stooped down to drink; but, before his lips touched
the water he heard the heavy tread of warriors,
and the loud clank of arms. He sprang to his
feet and looked around, but the noise had ceased
and he could see nothing of arms or warriors.
He stood a little while wondering then stooped
again to drink; and again, before he had wet his
lips, he heard the very same sounds nearer and
louder than before. A second time he leaped to
his feet but there was no way in which to ac-
count for the clank of arms, or the sound of the
tread of marching champions, which he had
heard. Astonished and perplexed, he stood be-
side the well, and happening to look at the tall
pillar stone near by he saw on its top a large,
beautiful, drinking horn, chased with gold and
enameled with precious stones.
“Ah,” thought Dyna, “it is no doubt one of
the virtues of this well that no one may drink
of its waters except from the drinking horn. So
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
195
he took down the horn, dipped it into the well,
and drank without hindrance until he had slaked
his thirst. Scarcely had he taken the horn from
his lips, when he saw a tall grugach com-
ing toward him from the east. The grugach
was, clad in a complete suit of mail and fully
armed with shield and helmet; sword and spear.
A beautiful scarlet mantle hung over his armor
and was fastened at his throat by a golden
brooch. A broad land of gold, bended across his
forehead, confined his yellow hair and kept it
from being blown about by the wind.
He came forward with long strides and soon
reached the well. He ofifered no greeting nor
courtesy to Dyna, but addressed him in a rough,
angry voice: “O, Dyna of the Feine, could you
not have drunk your fill from the crystal springs
of Eire? Why have you come to my island and
without my leave drank from my drinking horn
the waters of this well? Never shall you leave this
spot until you have given me satisfaction for this
insult !”
So spoke the grugach and advanced on Dyna
with fury in his eyes. But there did not live a
grugach who could terrify Dyna. He met the
foe half way and like two enraged lions they
Grugach: A wizard. Land: A crescent of gold worn on the head.
196
GAELIC FOLK TALES
fought through all the long day, until the gloam-
ing; then the grugach suddenly sprang outside
the range of Dyna’s sword and leaping up with
a great bound alighted in the very center of the
well. Down he went and disappeared in a mo-
ment from the sight of the wondering Dyna.
Whether the hero meant to drown himself or to
play some wizard trick, Dyna knew not. He
looked once more into the crystal waters of the
well; all was as serene and quiet as when he first
beheld them. He was filled with amazement and
vexation because the grugach had so easily es-
caped from him and as he seated himself on the
green sward to think it over, he was sorely
chafed to think that he had not the least token
or trophy to show the Feine after his long fight.
Dyna was hungry and tired after the toil of
the day, so he set out to the forest near by to
see if he could find some game for food. And
as he neared the forest he saw a herd of speckled
deer running among the trees. He put his finger
into the silken loop of his spear and, throwing it
with unerring cast, brought down the nearest of
the herd. He lighted a fire under a tree and hav-
ing skinned the deer he fixed it on long, hazel
spits to roast. First, however, he went to the
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
197
well and fetched away the drinking horn full
of water. When the deer was cooked, he ate
until he was satisfied, and drank a refreshing
draft from the drinking horn, then he lay down
under the shelter of a tree, beside the fire and
slept until morning. Then he went again to the
forest and slew another deer for his breakfast,
for it was Dyna’s custom never to eat any food
which had been left from a former meal.
After he had eaten of the deer’s flesh and
drunk from the horn he went toward the well.
But the grugach was there before him, and stood
beside the pillar stone fully armed as before, and
looking more wrathful than ever. Dyna was
much surprised, but before he had time to speak
the grugach thus addressed him: “You have
now put the cap on all your evil deeds, O, Dyna
of the Feine, surely there are hunting grounds
in Eire of the green plains, deep forests with
plenty of deer in them, and you need not have
come hither to rob me thus and kill my speckled
deer. And now, O Dyna, hear me say : you shall
not go hence until I have taken full satisfaction
for all the injuries wrought me.”
Then the grugach without waiting for Dyna
to reply attacked him, and the two champions
198
GAELIC FOLK TALES
fought until the dusk began to fall. Then the
grugach again leaped into the well and disap-
peared.
On the third day, everything was repeated as
on the two former days, and on the fourth morn-
ing, Dyna found the grugach standing as usual
by the pillar stone near the well; and his looks
were fiercer than ever. And once more without
exchanging a word the warriors fought until the
dusk of evening, and when Dyna, who was
watching the grugach narrowly, saw him about
to spring into the well as he had done each even-
ing before, he threw his arms around him and
held him in a mighty grip. The grugach tried
to free himself while moving all the time nearer
and nearer the brink of the well until finally he
plunged in and down they went, Dyna and the
grugach, clinging to each other; down, deeper
and deeper, where nothing could be seen but
darkness and shadows. At length there was a
glimmer of light, then the full bright day burst
suddenly upon them. Presently, without feel-
ing any shock whatever they found them-
selves standing on solid ground. But that mo-
ment, the grugach, with a sudden effort, tore
himself from Dyna’s grasp and ran away, leav-
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
199
in g Dyna prone upon the earth. He leaped to
his feet thinking to pursue the grugach, but the
beauty of the .surrounding scene so distracted
his thoughts that he forgot the wizard-champion,
giving him time to escape.
Here was a lovely country, with green-sided
hills, and fair valleys between; groves of red
yew trees, and plains laughing all over with
flowers of every hue. Not far off was a city of
grand tall houses with glittering roofs, and a
magnificent royal palace. On the level green in
front of the palace were a number of knights,
all armed, amusing themselves with warlike exer-
cises of sword and spear.
It was toward this assemblage that the gru-
gach ran. Dyna looked just in time to see the
knights making way for him as he passed
through their ranks and inside of the palace gate.
Dyna was at a loss to know what to do next;
he seated himself to rest and think; and, he fell
into a deep sleep. After sleeping for some time
he was awakened by a smart blow. He opened
his eyes and saw standing over him a tall, young
man, with a comely countenance and long golden
hair. The young man, finding Dyna asleep in
such a dangerous place had struck him with the
200
GAELIC FOLK TALES
flat of his sword to awaken him. Dyna, thinking
him a foe, seized his arms. But the youth bade
him put them up. “I am no enemy, and have come
not to harm but to serve you,” said he. “Come
with me, O Dyna of the Bright Face, and I will
give you a better place to sleep, and kindly enter-
tainment.” Dyna thanked the young man and
went with him. After walking for some time they
came to a splendid house which they entered. In
the banqueting hall they found a noble company
of twelve score and ten knights, and almost as
many beautiful ladies with long, lustrous hair
falling over their shoulders; and eyes as blue as
the ailestar blossom. They wore mantles of
scarlet satin fastened with brooches of bur-
nished gold; and the sweet, wild lilies were not
more gentle and modest than were these noble
ladies in their looks and conversation. Both
knights and ladies sat at tables lining the walls
of the banquet hall ; some feasting, some playing
chess, and some listening to the music of harps.
All the knights and ladies arose and greeted
the heroes when they entered, and invited them
to join in the festivities.
But the golden haired prince, for such he was,
told them that first Dyna must have rest and re-
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
201
freshment. Then he ordered the attendants to
prepare a bath for him, and bring him rich gar-
ments so that he should be clothed like the
others.
After Dyna, refreshed and cheerful, had joined
the company once more he partook of food and
drink and made merry with his hospitable
friends. Harpers and poets; story tellers and
professors of divers arts and sciences vied with
each other in providing entertainment for the
guests. Poetry, song and sweetest music; tales
of the heroes of olden time ; and, again music
sweeter than Dyna had ever heard stirred the
imagination and warmed the hearts of that
bright gathering. And to each and every poet,
harper, or entertainer of whatever kind the
knights gave gifts of gold, and silver, and jewels.
After the feast was over, Dyna was shown to
a couch, richly ornamented and soft with the red
feathers of wild fowl, and soon he fell into a
sound sleep. The next morning, when the com-
pany had again assembled, Dyna said to the
noble youth who had brought him thither: “I
am much surprised, O prince, at all that has be-
fallen me in this strange land. Tell me I pray
you what country is this? And who is king
202
GAELIC FOLK TALES
thereof? And tell me also the name of the cham-
pion who fought with me four days at the well;
and who at last escaped from me through the
palace gate?”
“You shall be told everything; so listen, O
Dyna of the Bright Face. This country is Tir-
fa-tonn. The hero who fought with you is called
the Knight of the Fountain, and he is the King
of Tir-fa-tonn. I am the king’s brother, and am
called the Knight of Valour. Good reason have
I to be kind to you, Dyna, for I once spent a year
and a day in the household of Finn, the son of
Cumal. A part of this kingdom by right be-
longs to me, but the king and his son have seized
on my patrimony and have banished me from the
palace, forcing me to live here in exile, with a
few of my followers. I have here in my house-
hold seven score and ten heroes; and, if you will
consent to aid me in making war on the king of
Tir-fa-tonn these shall be placed under your
command. By day you shall fight, by night you
shall feast and rest in the palace.”
So Dyna and the Knight of Valour made a
covenant, and placing hand in hand pledged
themselves to be faithful friends.
Tir-fa-tonn: Country under the waves.
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
203
CHAPTER IV.
It was now many days since Dyna had left
his companions in the ship, and they marvelled
much that he did not return with tidings of the
Gilla Dacker. At length they determined to go
in search of him. Feradach and Foltlebar tied
all the cables and ropes they could find in the
ship together in hard, sure knots ; and when this
was done they had a rope long enough to reach
from the top of the rock to the bottom. Then
they clambered up the steep face of the cliff,
fetching with them the end of the rope, and one
by one they drew up Finn and the rest.
When they were all up, Foltlebar led the way
across the plain. And it chanced that they met
a young man of majestic mien, riding a beauti-
ful chestnut steed with a bridle of twisted gold,
and a saddle of surpassing splendor glittering
with gold and jewels. He alighted; and putting
his hand on Finn’s neck, kissed his cheek three
times and: “ Welcome art thou, O Finn of
the famous deeds/’ said he, “to this, my kingdom
of Sorca.” And while they were conversing, a
messenger came breathless into the presence of
the king, and bowing low, waited impatiently for
Sorca [Sur'cah]: Scholars do not agree as to place meant.
204
GAELIC FOLK TALES
leave to speak. And when the king asked him
what news he had brought, he replied: “Direful
news have I, O king, for a foreign fleet has come
to our shores, a fleet so great that until the stars
of heaven and the sands of the sea are counted
the hosts that are landing from their black ships
shall not be numbered. Already they are
plundering and slaying the people of our land.”
Finn, when he heard this, without waiting to
be asked, proffered the assistance of himself and
his soldiers.
The King of Sorca was glad of heart when he
heard this offer, and he gathered his fighting
men together and after many days of dreadful
warfare the foreigners were overcome with
disaster and set their sails and left the harbor in
the night
When the soldiers of Sorca and the Feine
arose next morning, not a ship was in sight. And
while they were rejoicing with each other at be-
ing freed from invasion, they saw at a distance,
a troop of chieftains coming toward them, with
arms and banners, ablaze with the morning sun-
light.
As they drew nearer, Fergus, the poet, recog-
nized Dyna Bainchre at the head of the troop,
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
205
and ran forward to meet him. With embraces
and shouts of joy the parted friends greeted each
other, and Dyna related all of his adventures
from first to last. “And now,” continued he,
bringing forth the Knight of Valour from
among the strange host, “this is he who was
formerly called the Knight of Valour, but who
is now the King of Tir-fa-tonn, ‘for together
have we fought and won for him his patrimony
which was wrested from him by his brother, the
unjust and cruel Knight of the Fountain.’’ The
chieftains in silence saluted the king and Dyna
continued telling of the Knight of Valour: “He
has given us tidings of the Gilla Dacker, for by
means of his druidical art he has found out that
he is no other than Avarta, the Dedannan, who
took the form of a grugach in order that he
might bring away with him the sixteen Feine to
the land of promise, Tir-na-n-og, and he now
holds them in bondage there.
Finn and the young king then made covenants
of friendship with each other, and after they had
rested a few days in the palace of the king of
Sorca, they set out again on their quest of the
Gilla Dacker with the skillful Foltlebar for their
helmsman.
206
GAELIC FOLK TALES
They sailed from island to island and from
bay to bay, over many seas and by many shores,
until at length they arrived at Tir-na-n-og
where in his youth Dyna of the Bright Face had
been nurtured by Mannanan Mac Lir of the Yel-
low Hair. It was Finn's intent to burn and spoil
the country, to avenge the outrage that had been
done his people, but Dyna would not hear of this
and he said: “O king, it is not well for us to
be at war with this people, for none are more
skilled in Druidic art. Let us send a trusty
herald to Avarta, that he may demand from him
the liberty of our companions; if he grants our
request we shall be at peace ; if he refuses ; then,
shall we proclaim war and waste this land with
fire and sword.”
This advice was approved by all, and then
Finn said “But how shall heralds reach the
dwelling of this enchanter, for the ways are not
open and straight as in other lands ; but, crooked
and made for concealment, and the valleys and
plains are dim and shadowy and hard to be
traversed.”
But Foltlebar, nothing daunted by the dangers
of the way, offered to go with but one trusty
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
207
companion, and Finn chose Gaul Mac Morna
to accompany him.
When the two heralds approached the man-
sion of Avarta they found their friends amusing
themselves on the green outside the palace walls ;
for though held captive they were treated with
great kindness by Avarta. When they saw the
heralds coming toward them their joy knew no
bound. They crowded round to embrace them
and ask them many questions about home and
friends.
And while they were greeting each other,
Avarta himself came forth and asked who the
strangers were. Foltlebar replied: “We are
heralds of Finn, the son of Cumal, and we are
sent by him to demand the release of our friends,
held in bondage by thy evil spells. At .first
Avarta made no reply, but he called a council of
his chief men, and they conferred together and,
having much fear of the Feine, they decided to
restore Finn’s people, and allow him to make his
own award in satisfaction for the injury done
him.
Avarta accompanied the heralds and they re-
turned to Finn, and the King of Tir-na-n-og
delivered his own message. And Finn and
208
GAELIC FOLK TALES
Avarta put hand in hand and made a league o£
friendship. Then Avarta invited the heroes of
Eire to a feast, and for three days they ate and
drank and made merry. On the fourth day a
meeting was called to hear the award. When all
were gathered together, Finn was asked to name
his award, and this is what he said : “I shall not
name an award, O Avarta, neither shall I ac-
cept an eric from thee ; but, the wages I promised
thee, when we made our covenant at Knock-
ainey, that I will give thee, for I am thankful
for the welcome thou hast given us here, and I
wish peace and friendship between us for ever-
more.”
But Conan was not so easily satisfied, and lost
no time in saying: “Little hast thou endured,
O Finn, and thou mayest well waive thy award;
but, hadst thou, like us, suffered from the sharp
bones of the Gilla Dacker’s monstrous horse in
a long journey across wide seas, through tangled
woods and over rough headed rocks, from Eire
to Tir-na-n-og, thou wouldst, methinks, name
an award.”
Then Avarta, without waiting to hear more
said to Conan: “Name thy award and I will ful-
fill it every jot, for I have heard of thee Conan,
PURSUIT OF THE GILLA DACKER
209
and I fear the taunts of thy mischievous
tongue.”
“Very well, then,” said Conan, “this is my
award: Fifteen of the best and noblest men
in your Land of Promise shall mount on the back
of the big horse that brought me and my com-
panions thither, and you yourself shall take hold
of his tail and in this manner you shall fare back
to Eire over the self same track by which we
came ; through the same thick, thorny woods and
over the same islands and rough rocks ; and this,
O Avarta, is my award.”
Now Finn and his people were rejoiced ex-
ceedingly when they heard Conan’s award, for
they had greatly feared that he might ask for
treasures of gold and silver; and thus bring re-
proach on the Feine. Avarta promised that every-
thing required by Conan should be done, and
then the heroes took their leave. And they
launched their ship on the broad, green sea and
having sailed back to Eire, marched to their
camping ground at Knockainy, and rested in
their tents. Avarta then chose his men and after
they had mounted on the horse’s back, he him-
self caught hold 6f the tail and it is not told how
they fared until they made harbor and landing
place at Cloghan Kincat. From thence they
210
GAELIC FOLK TALES
journeyed straight to Knockainy. Finn and his
people saw them coming, the Gilla Dacker, quite
as large and ugly as ever, running before the
horse, for he had let go of the tail at Cloghan
Kincat.
The Feine could not help laughing heartily
when they saw the plight of the fifteen chiefs on
the great horse’s back; and they said with one
voice that Conan had made a fitting award.
When the horse reached the spot from which
he had at first set out the men began to dismount.
Then the Gilla Dacker suddenly stepped for-
ward, held up his arm and pointed earnestly over
the heads of the Feine towards the field where
their horses were grazing. This startled the
heroes and they turned round, every man, to
look. But nothing could they see, but the horses
grazing quietly inside the fence.
And when they turned back again, intent on
speaking to the Gilla Dacker and his men, they
were much astonished to find them all gone !
The Gilla Dacker and his spectral horse and
the fifteen nobles from the Land of Promise had
disappeared in an instant; and neither Finn nor
any of his chiefs ever saw them afterwards.
And thus ends the story of the pursuit of the
Gilla Dacker and his horse.
The Fairy Palace of the
Quicken Trees
EYOND the border of the northern
sea, in his beautiful palace of Berva,
dwelt Colga of the Hard Weapons,
grandson of Mighty Balor and king
of the warlike Lochlanns.
Glorious and powerful was Colga yet some-
what there was to trouble him, and amidst all
the splendors of the palace he sat with bowed
head, pondering a way of relief. And he called
a meeting of his chief people on the broad green
plain before the palace. Wearing his Ionar
braided with precious stones and carrying his
two bright bronze-handled spears in his hand he
went forth to meet the people when they had
gathered together. Then, from his high throne,
he spoke to them and his voice rang clear in the
ears of the most distant : “My people,” said he,
“have I been to you an unjust ruler, or have you
Braighean Caorthainn [Breen Car'hyenn]: Gaelic for Palace of the
Quicken Trees. Quicken Tree: The mountain ash. Ionar;
Military cloak.
211
212
GAELIC FOLK TALES
found any cause for complaint against me, your
sovereign lord and king?” As with one voice
they answered: “O king, mighty and just,
Wielder of the Hard Weapons, thy people find
no fault with thee, command us and we obey.”
Then spoke King Colga : “Know you not that
I am called king of the tribes of Lochlann and
of the islands of the sea? Yet there is one island
which acknowledges not my rule.”
And the people, not knowing this, asked which
island.
“It is Eire, the island of the green hills. My
forefathers held sway over it, and many of our
brave warriors died there in battle. There fell
Balor of the Mighty Blows and Kethlenda, his
queen. There too fell Iran and Slana sisters of
the king and many others. Our hosts indeed
once held this land under tribute ; but the men of
Eire arose and drove them into the sea, which
even yet is red with their blood, and Eire no
longer owns the sway of the Lochlann king.
Once again, O men of Lochlann, we must subdue
that island and hold it subject as long as the
ends of the rushes are brown.”
“Wise art thou, O King,” said the chiefs of
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 213
Lochlann “and the council is worthy of our ac-
ceptance.”
Then, swift scouts and couriers and estafets
mustered the king’s fighting men, and they made
ready their white-sailed, curve-sided ships; and
chasing the white sea horses through the billowy
brine, made neither stop nor stay until they had
landed on the shores of Ulad.
Now this was three hundred three and thirty
years after the death of the King of Israel on
Calvary; and, at this time Cormac son of Art,
son of Conn the Hundred Fighter, was king of
Eire, and held his court at Teamhair-na-Righ.
When Cormac heard that a foreign fleet had
landed on the shores of his far north province
of Ulad, he sent messengers with tidings of the
invasion to Alvin of the green hill slopes where
lived Finn the head chieftain of the four clans of
the Feine, the brave and ever ready defenders of
the island of Eire.
Then Finn sent word to every part of Eire
where the Feine dwelt and bade them meet him at
a certain place near the coast where the Loch-
lann army were encamped. When the forces of
Finn had met together without delay they at-
tacked the foreigners, and fiercely the foreigners
Teamhair-na-Righ [Tow ' -er-na-Ree'] : Tara of the Kings. Ulad Ool '
lah] : Ulster.
214
GAELIC FOLK TALES
met the onset. Now it seemed that victory was
for the fearless Lochlanns ; and now the shouts of
the sons of Eire rose triumphant above the din
of clashing spears. At last, Oscar, son of Oisin,
meeting king Colga closed in deadly conflict
hand to hand with him. Soon, his bright shield
rent, his helmet dinted with sword blows, the
blood from his deep wounds welling forth from
beneath his pierced armor, fell Colga of the
Hard Weapons, slain by Oscar, son of Oisin.
At sunset there remained not one of the
mighty men of Lochlann, except king Colga’s
youngest son, Midac. Finn, returning to Allen,
brought Midac with him, and gave him a high
post as befitted a prince. While Midac was
growing to manhood, he hunted and feasted
with the Feine; and fought with them when they
fought, and all the while he made himself ac-
quainted with their haunts, and hunting
grounds, their palaces and fortresses ; and in par-
ticular with their manner of carrying on war.
And it happened one day in a council of the
Feine, that Conan Mael the son of Morna stood
up and said : “O king, have you not noticed that
the young prince Midac is silent and distant and
Midac [Mee'ach].
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES
215
that he takes much pains to acquaint himself
with all matters pertaining to the Feine?”
“What you say, O son of Morna, is true,” an-
swered the king, and then he asked Conan to
give his opinions as to what should be done.
Said Conan : “I advise that the Prince Midac
be given lands and a household of his own, apart
from the palace of Allen, where he can no longer
listen to our councils and learn our secrets and
our plans.”
Then the king sent for the prince and said to
him: “Thou knowest, Midac, thou hast always
been dealt with as becomes a prince. It is not
meet that thou shouldst abide longer in the house
of another, choose therefore the two cantreds in
all Eire that please thee best, and they shall be
given to thee and thy descendants forever as a
patrimony.” So Midac chose the rich cantred
of Kenri on the Shannon ; and the cantred of the
island lying next to it on the north, at the other
side of the river. Midac had good reason for
choosing these two cantreds, for the river opens
out between them like a great sea, and in the
sheltered harbors ships could anchor in safety,
and he hoped some day to bring a fleet and an
army into Eire to avenge on Finn and the Feine
216
GAELIC FOLK TALES
the defeat and death of his father and his coun-
trymen. For fourteen years Midac lived in his
new home, and there was no Brugaid in Eire
richer or more prosperous than he. One day
Finn and the Feine went to hunt in the district
of Fermorc, and over the plain of Hy Conall
Gavra. And when the chase was about to begin,
Finn and a few of his companions went to the
top of the hill of Knockfierna to see the sport.
There they pitched their tents and made soft
couches of rushes and heather, and dug cooking
places; for they intended the hill to be a resting
place for the hunters. They had not been there
long before they saw a tall warrior coming
toward them. He wore a splendid coat of mail
of Lochlann workmanship, and over it a mantle
of fine satin, dyed in divers colors. A broad
shield hung on his left shoulder; and, in the
morning sun, his helmet glittered like polished
silver. A long sword, with golden hilt and en-
amelled sheath, hung at his left side, and he
held in his right hand his two sharp, death-deal-
ing spears.
Wonderfully majestic was his bearing; and
as he approached he saluted the king in digni-
fied and courteous words. To Finn’s inquiry as
Brugaid [Broo'a]: A farmer or husbandman.
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 217
to whence he came, and what tidings he brought
he replied: “Of the place from which I have
come nothing need be spoken; and no tidings
have I except that I am a Ferdana, and I have
brought thee a poem, O King of the Feine.”
“A mountain top is not the place for poetry.”
said Finn. “Remain here with us until the chase
is ended, then you shall come with me to one of
our palaces, and there I will listen to your poem
and bestow on you befitting gifts.”
But the unknown Ferdana answered: “To
go to your palace is not my wish ; and I now put
you under geasa, which will compel you to listen
to my poem and explain its meaning.”
So Finn was compelled to listen while the
Ferdana sang:
“I saw a house by a river’s shore,
Famed through Eire in days of yore;
Its Lord deep skilled in fairy lore.
No spoiler can rive its golden store ;
Safe it stands when the torrents pour.
Feasting and joy for evermore
To all who enter its open door.”
“I can explain that poem!” said Finn, “the
house by the river's shore is the palace of Bruga,
where dwells Angus, a man more skilled in
magj,c arts than any in Eire.”
Bruga [Broo' ah].
218
GAELIC FOLK TALES
'Thou hast divined my meaning said the
stranger, "canst thou also explain this rann?"
“I saw to the south a bright faced queen,
With couch of crystal and robe of green ;
Slowly she moves; and yet her speed
Exceeds the pace of the swiftest steed.”
"The queen you speak of is the river Boyne,
which flows by the southern wall of the palace
of Bruga. Her couch of crystal is the river's
sandy bed; her robe of green, the grassy plain
through which it flows. The river indeed flows
slowly, but its waters traverse the whole world
in seven years, and that is more than the swiftest
steed can do."
"Truly hast thou spoken," said the Ferdana
grasping more tightly his polished spears.
And then Finn besought him to tell who he
was, and whence he came; but Conan Mael
spoke saying: "Wise art thou, O Finn, and
thou hast unravelled the mystical ranns; yet, in
this has thy wisdom failed thee; thou hast not
distinguished between friend and foe, for this
Ferdana is Midac, whom thou didst bring up with
much honor in thy own house; but who is now
thy enemy. Long has he enjoyed the patrimony
with which thou didst endow him, and though
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 219
he is one of the Feine, never has he offered the
hospitality of his palace to thee or them.,,
Said Midac: “My house has never been with-
out a banquet fit for either king or chief; and,
an invitation you did not need, for I was
one of you : But let that pass ; this night a feast
will be ready and I put you under geasa to come
and partake of it. Remember, tonight Midac,
the prince, awaits Finn and his Feine soldiers in
the Palace of the Quicken Trees.’ ’
“And having pointed out the way, the Fer-
dana turned to go saying he must hasten to have
all things in readiness when they should arrive.”
Finn held council with his companions, and it
was agreed that the king’s son Oisin and five
other chiefs with their followers should tarry on
the hill until the hunting party returned, while
Finn and the remaining chieftains went to the
Palace of the Quicken Trees. And it was also
arranged that Finn should send back word as soon
as possible after his arrival telling how he fared
It was also arranged that after the hunting
party returned Oisin and his companions were
to go likewise to partake of Midac’s hospitality.
As Finn and his party neared the palace they
marveled greatly at its size and splendor; and
220
GAELIC FOLK TALES
they wondered that they had never seen it be-
fore. It stood on a green plain surrounded by
many quicken trees, on which hung thick
clusters of scarlet berries. A broad river flowed
through the green plain and its bank nearest the
palace was rocky and high, and a steep pathway
led down to a ford.
Everything was silent and lonely, and to their
surprise no one came to greet them. Finn, fear-
ing foul play, would have turned back had he not
bethought him of his geasa and his promise.
The great door of the palace was wide open, but
when they entered they found no one — neither
host nor guests nor attendants. Never had they
seen a banquet hall more splendid. A huge fire,
burning brightly in the middle of the hall, gave
forth no smoke, but a sweet perfume which re-
freshed and delighted the heroes. Everywhere
were couches covered with rugs and soft, glossy
furs. The curved walls were of wood: close
jointed and polished like ivory. Each board was
painted differently from those above and below,
so that the sides of the room from the floor to
roof were all radiant with color. Without wait-
ing longer, the chieftains seated themselves on
The houses of the ancient Gaels were of wood.
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 221
the couches and rugs to await the coming of
their host.
Presently a door opened and Midac entered.
He looked at the heroes one after another, but
spoke not one word, only turned quickly and
went out, shutting the great door behind him.
Finn and his friends were unable at first to
speak for wonder at this strange proceeding; and
they remained sitting in silence until Finn, when
he had somewhat recovered from his surprise,
said: "My friends, I know you are no less sur-
prised than I at the manner of our reception : our
host speaks us no word of welcome; and, al-
though we were invited to a feast, there is none
prepared for us.”
"But is not this still more a cause for wonder ?”
said Gaul MacMorna, "the fire, which was clear
and smokeless when we first saw it and which
smelled more sweetly than the flowers of the
plain, now fills the hall with an offensive odor,
and sends up clouds of black, sooty smoke.”
"And more wonderful even,” said Dathkin,
the strong-limbed, "the boards in the walls of
this banquet hall which were smooth and close
jointed, and glorious all over with bright
colors, when we came, are now nothing but
Dathkin [Da ' kin].
222
GAELIC FOLK TALES
rough planks, clumsily fastened together with
quicken tree withes, and as rude and unshapen
as if they had been hacked and hewed with a
blunt axe.
“And behold,” said Foilan, the son of Aed the
Lesser, “instead of the seven great doors of the
palace wide open and looking pleasantly to the
sunshine, as they were on our arrival, I see now
only one small, narrow door; close fastened and
facing straight to the north.”
“Most wonderful of all,” said Conan Mael,
“the rich rugs, and furs, and couches which
were under us when first we seated ourselves,
are all gone! Not a fragment remains, and we
are now sitting on the bare, damp earth; and it
feels as cold as the snow of one night !”
Then Finn spoke again: “You know, my
friends, that I never tarry in a house having only
one door. Let one of you then arise, and break
open that narrow door, that we may go forth
from this foul smoky den.”
“That, shall I do,” cried Conan; and, so say-
ing, he seized his long spear and planting it in
the floor, point downward, he attempted to
spring to his feet, but was unable to move.
“Alas, my friends,” cried he with a groan of
Foilan [Fwee'lan]. Aed [A].
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 223
anguish, “this is most wonderful of all; I am
firmly fixed by some druidical spell to the cold
clay floor of the Palace of the Quicken Trees.”
And all the others, likewise, found it impos-
sible to move from the place where they sat.
When Gaul had sufficiently recovered from sur-
prise to speak, he said: “It seems clear, O
king, that Midac has planned this treachery, and
that great danger lies before us. I beseech you,
place your thumb under your tooth of knowledge
and let us know the truth so that we may hasten
to consider how best to escape.”
Whereupon Finn placed his thumb under his
tooth of knowledge and mused for a little while.
Then suddenly withdrawing his thumb, he sank
back in his seat and groaned aloud.
“May it be the will of the gods,” said Gaul,
“that it is the pain of thy thumb that has caused
thee to utter that groan.”
“Alas, not so,” replied Finn, “I fear that my
death is near; and the death of my dear com-
panions. Therexis now no hope for our escape
from Midac’s treacherous snare; for in the
palace of the island, there is at this moment an
army of foreigners, brought thither by Midac
for our destruction. Sinsar of the battles, with
Sinsar [Shin'shar]: The Elder.
224
GAELIC FOLK TALES
sixteen warlike princes under his command, has
come from Greece. His son, Borba the
Haughty, has come also commanding a band of
fierce and haughty knights. The three kings of
the Island of the Torrent are already on their
way, furious as dragons. It is they who by
their sorcery have enabled Midac to prevent our
leaving the palace; for this cold clay we sit on is
a part of the soil of the enchanted island of the
Torrent. It was brought by Midac to his palace
and placed here with fearful spells. Never can
our enchantment be broken, unless the blood of
those kings be first sprinkled on the clay. When
they heard these tidings, some of the heroes shed
bitter tears in silence; and others lamented
aloud. ++&#*«**
But Finn again spoke, and said he: “It be-
comes us not, my friends, to weep and wail like
women, even though we are in danger of death.
Let us rather sound the Dord Fian, sweetly and
plaintively as we are wont to do, that it may be
a comfort to us before we die.”
So the fated warriors sang: And while they
were singing, Ficna, the son of Finn, and Isna,
the son of Svena Selga, came from the hill of
Knockfierna for, as Finn had sent no messengers
Borba [Bur 'bah]: Fierce. Dord: Bass in music; Dord Fian: War
chant of the Feine.
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 225
to the Feine, whom he had left behind him on the
hill, they feared some evil had befallen him and
his companions. They waited until nightfall and
then set out to ascertain the true state of affairs.
When they neared the Palace of the Quicken
Trees, night had darkened around them, and al-
though they could not see the palace they heard
the Feine within singing the loud, slow strains of
the Dord-Fian.
“Things go well with our friends,” said Isna
joyfully.
But Ficna replied: “Alas, I cannot think so,
for it is only in time of trouble or danger that
Finn is wont to have the Dord-Fian sounded, in
a manner so slow and sad.”
When the song was ended, Finn noticed the
low hum of conversation outside, and recogniz-
ing the voice of Ficna he said to him: “Come
not nearer, my son, for this place abounds in
dangerous spells, and here Midac holds us fast
in the sorcery of the kings of the island of the
Torrent.”
But both Ficna and Isna said that never would
they return to safety leaving their much loved
chieftain in deadly danger.
Then said Finn: “In yonder palace of the
226
GAELIC FOLK TALES
island are gathered mighty hosts of foreigners,
plotting our destruction; but, to come thither
they must needs pass the ford under the shadow
of these walls. The ford is rugged and hard to
cross, and one good man standing in the steep,
narrow entrance at the hither side might dispute
the passage for a time against many. Go now
and defend this ford, and haply help may come
in time.”
Then Ficna and Isna departed rejoicing to
think that they might perhaps be of assist-
ance to the brave but stricken chieftains who
were imprisoned in the enchanted palace. And
they agreed between them that Isna should
guard the ford alone, while Ficna set out
straightway for the palace of the island.
Here, all the day, had Midac and the foreign-
ers feasted and drank; and were merry in the
thought that Finn and his people were securely
bound, in the charmed durance of the palace of
the Quicken Trees. And at eventide spoke an
Irla of Sinsar of the Battles, and said: “I will
now go to the palace of the Quicken Trees and
bring hither the head of Finn, son of Cumal;
and I shall gain thereby much renown and be
honored by Sinsar of the Battles.”
Irla [Earl]: Scandinavian word.
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 227
So he went taking with him a goodly number
of his own knights. When they reached the
ford near the palace of the Quicken Trees, the
Irla, looking through the darkness, thought he
saw a warrior standing at the other brink and
he called aloud to ask who was there, and
whether he belonged to the noble or the ignoble
races of the world. And Insa answered that he
belonged to the household of Finn, the son of
Cumal.
“Lo,” said the Irla, “we are going to the Palace
of the Quicken Trees to bring Finn’s head to
Sinsar of the battles, and thou shalt come with
us and lead us to the door.”
“O champion of Sinsar,” answered Isna, “I
guard this ford for Finn, and never, I warn you,
shall I allow a foe of his to pass.”
''Force the ford,” cried the Irla to his knights,
"then shall we see if yonder hero can fight as
well as he threatens.”
So Insa defended the ford and when the con-
flict was over, the shore was heaped with the
bodies of the slain. Those of the combatants
who remained alive fled away and Isna was
fain to rest after the long hard fray.
But the Irla, seeing so many of his knights
228
GAELIC FOLK TALES
slain, was mad with wrath, and snatching up his
sword and shield he attacked Isna. Now the
Irla was fresh and strong, while Isna was weary
and sore wounded ; and at length the young war-
rior fell in the ford, and the Irla beheaded him
and, exulting in his victory, brought the head
away.
Finn and his companions, sitting in miserable
plight, in the Palace of the Quicken Trees heard
the clash of arms at the ford, and the shouts and
groans of warriors. After a time all was still
again and they knew not how the fight had
ended.
The Irla returning to the palace of the island,
overtook, Ficna, reconnoitering near the palace
gate. Ficna spoke to the Irla and asked him
whither he had come.
“I come,” replied the Irla, “from the ford of
the palace of the Quicken Trees, and lo, I bring
with me the head of a young champion, who op-
posed our passage, and slew our knights, as we
were on our way to take Finn, the son of Cumal.
And lo, here thou mayest behold the head of the
defender of the ford; for him have I slain in
fierce and single combat, and I bring this gory
trophy to Sinsar of the battles, King of Greece/'
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 229
“Alas, dear youth,” said Ficna, “only this
morning I saw the light of valor in those dim
eyes, and the bloom of youth on that pale cheek !”
Then wrathfully he spoke: “Knowest thou
to whom thou hast shown this ghastly witness
of thy triumph?”
“Art thou not one of the Knights of Sinsar?”
asked the Irla.
“I am not; and neither shalt thou be after this
hour,” answered the Ficna, drawing his sword.
And they fought where they stood; and the
foreign Irla fell by the avenging hand of Ficna,
the son of Finn.
Ficna brought the Irla’s head to the Palace of
the Quicken Trees and showed it to Finn, and
related all his adventures. And Finn, hearing
of the death of Isna, wept for his loved one slain
and then he said : “Victory and blessing be with
thee my son; nobly hast thou done, and now re-
turn and guard the ford, and peradventure our
friends may send help in time.”
So Ficna went and sat on the brink of the
ford.
Now Kiaran, brother of the slain Irla, seeing
that he remained away so long from the palace
of the island, said to some of his followers : “It
230
GAELIC FOLK TALES
is a long time since my brother left for the palace
of the! Quicken Trees. I fear that he and his
people have fared ill in their quest.”
And Kiaran went to seek his brother, tak-
ing with him a company of knights. When they
had come to the ford they saw Ficna at the far
side, and Kiaran called out and asked who he
was, and who had made such slaughter at the
ford.
“I am one of the household of Finn, the son
of Cumal!” answered Ficna, “and by his com-
mand I guard the ford. As to the slaughter of
yonder knights: I warn you come not to this
side of the ford, for I shall reply not in words
but in deeds.”
Then Kiaran and his men rushed through the
water, blind with rage, and after a fearful con-
flict, only one man was left alive; and he sped
quickly back to the palace of the island to tell the
tale, leaving Ficna weary and wounded on the
river brink.
Midac, hearing the tidings, was very wroth
and he bethought him of a ruse: Said he:
“Among the companions of Finn is Conan Mael,
a man who of all the men of Eire has the great-
est appetite and is fondest of eating and drink-
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 231
in g. To him will I go with a choice party of my
own brave men, and bring him savory food and
drink — not indeed to delight him but to torment
him with the sight and smell of what he cannot
taste.
So it happened that Midac and his men were
trying to force the ford from Ficna when Fatha
and Dyna of the Bright Face were on their way,
from the hill of Knockfierna, to find out why
their companions lingered so long in the palace
of the Quicken Trees. And Fatha said: “I hear
in the distance the sound of single combat; the
combat of mighty heroes.”
"And I too,” said Dyna, "hear that sound
which quickens the blood in every warrior’s
heart, let us hasten to the scene of the fray.”
They ran like the wind until they reached
the hill-brow over the river, and looking across
in the dim moonlight, they saw the whole ford
heaped with bodies of the slain, and the two
heroes fighting to the death at the far side.
Dyna hastened to the spot and putting his finger
in the silken loop of his spear, threw a deadly
cast with unerring aim and struck Midac so that
the iron spear head went right through his
body and the length of a warrior's hand beyond.
Fatha [Faw'ha].
232
GAELIC FOLK TALES
And Midac, knowing that he was wounded to
death by the spear of Dyna, struck more fiercely
at Ficna, felling him to the earth, upon which he
too sank to rise no more.
Then said Dyna to Midac: “If I had found
thee dead, I would have passed thee untouched,
but now that I have overtaken thee alive, I must
needs behead thee, for thy head will be to Finn a
worthy eric for his son.”
And Dyna, forthwith, left Fatha at the ford
and brought the head of Midac to Finn, and
Finn having listened to Dyna's account of this
last conflict said: “Victory and blessings be
with thee, Dyna, for what thou hast done; and,
I pray thee, continue to aid us well and faithfully
or we shall certainly perish. Here we sit, spell-
bound, and naught else but the blood of the three
fierce kings of the island of Torrent sprinkled
on this clay can release us. Guard the ford until
the rising of the sun, for then I know the Feine
will come to help you.”
“O Finn, this arm shall never fail thee; and
faithful is Fatha to the king of Feine.” And bid-
ding his friends farewell, Dyna was about to re-
turn to the ford when Conan Mael said with a
groan: “Miserable the hour in which I came
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 233
to this palace; cold and comfortless the clay on
which I sit; but, worst of all to be without food
and drink so long. There is plenty of wine and
savory food yonder in the palace of the island,
Dyna, and I beseech you, for I can no longer
bear this torture, bring me from the palace as
much food as I can eat, and a drinking horn of
wine.”
“The wind of misfortune to one uttering such
selfish words” said Dyna. “It is not enough
that we must defend you from the foreigners;
but, also, food must be procured for the glutton-
ous Conan Mael!”
“Alas, Dyna-na-man, if a lovely maiden made
this request, you would fly to please her ; but you,
who have already crossed me four times in my
courtships, would now be pleased to see me die
of hunger in this dungeon.”
“Cease your upbraiding, and I will bring you
food,” said Dyna, “for it is better to face danger
than to suffer revilings.”
So he went back to where Fatha was guard-
ing the ford, and said to him: “I needs must
go to the Palace of the Island in order to procure
food for Conan Mael.”
But Fatha told him of the food which Midac
Dyna-na-man: Dyna, Favorite of women.
234
GAELIC FOLK TALES
had placed at the other side of the ford, and
urged him to bring a good meal of this to Conan.
“If I did that,” said Dyna, “he would taunt
me with bringing him food taken from the hands
of dead men; and, from his blow one may re-
cover; but, not from the venom of his tongue.”
Dyna then hastened to the palace and as he
drew near he heard the sound of revelry, and
peering warily through the open door, he saw
the feast-tables spread, and Sinsar of the Battles
and his son Borba high seated over all. Dyna
entered a dark passage way, near the door, and
standing silent and stern, with drawn sword,
watched his opportunity and when an attendant,
with a large, ornamented drinking horn filled
with wine, passed close to him he struck off his
head with a swift, sure blow and snatched the
horn from the man’s hand, before he fell. So
deftly was it done that not a drop of wine was
spilt. Dyna was able also to obtain a dish of
food from near where the King sat at the table,
and get off without hindrance or harm of any
kind.
When he reached the ford he found Fatha ly-
ing fast asleep on the bank. This caused him
to wonder; yet knowing the young warrior was
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 235
worn out with watching and toil, he left him
undisturbed and went to the palace of the
Quicken Trees with the food for Conan.
“I have here a goodly meal of choice food;
how am I to give it to thee, Conan ?” called
Dyna as, bearing the food with him, he stood
outside the palace under the low branches of the
Quicken Trees.
Said Conan : “Throw it towards me from
yonder little opening.”
Dyna did so ; and as fast as he threw the food,
Conan caught it in his large hands and ate it
ravenously. And when it was all gone, Dyna
said: “I have here a fine drinking horn of good
wine; how am I to give it to thee?”
Conan answered: “There is a place behind
the palace where with a light, airy bound
you will be able to reach the lower parapet.
Come from that directly over me, and break a
hole in the roof with your spear, and through
that you can pour the wine down to me.” Dyna
did as Conan told him, and as he poured down
the wine, Conan, with upturned face, opened his
great mouth and swallowed every drop.
Dyna then returned to the ford. He found
Fatha still asleep but did not awaken him.
236 GAELIC FOLK TALES
When the Kings of the Island of the Torrent
heard that Midac and his knights were slain at
the ford they said: “The young King of Loch-
lann did wrong to make this attempt without
asking our council. To us alone belongs the
right to slay those who by our spells sit bound in
the Palace of the Quicken Trees.”
Thereupon the kings with a strong party set
out, and soon reached the ford. Looking across
in the dim light they saw Dyna and greeted him,
saying: “The countenance of a pleasant moon
to you, O Chieftain,” and with fair words they
sought to beguile him into leaving the ford.
But Dyna stood up straight and tall as a pillar
and scowled across the ford : “The wind of mis-
fortune to you, perfidious foreigners! Attempt
not to approach the Palace of the Quicken Trees,
for I will defend the ford as long as life shall
last.”
And then Dyna, seeking to awake Fatha, there-
with, cried: “Pharra! Pharra!” the battle cry
of the clans of Eire.
The hostile knights rushing toward Dyna im-
petuously assailed him, but the strong hero met
them as a rock meets waves and slew them when
they came within reach of his sword. The
Pharra 1 Pharra 1 Beware l Beware !
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES
237
crashing of weapons and the riving of swords
awaked Fatha, and then he too turned and at-
tacked the foe and many a knight fell at his right
and at his left.
Long and furious was the fight; and at last
the three dragon-like kings lay slain upon the
fateful ford. Dyna, striking off their heads, re-
turned followed by Fatha to the Palace of the
Quicken Trees. As they drew near the door
Finn, knowing their voices and footsteps, called
loudly to know how it fared with them: “For,”
said he, “the crashing and the din of that battle
exceeded all that we have yet heard, and we
know not how it has ended.”
Dyna made haste to answer: “O, King of
the Feine, Fatha and I have slain the three
Kings of the Island of the Torrent: Lo, here are
their gory heads!”
“Victory and blessings be with thee, Dyna!
You and Fatha have fought a valiant fight,
worthy of the Feine of Eire. Now sprinkle the
door with blood.”
Dyna did so, and in a moment the door flew
open with a loud crash. Pale and faint the
champions sat upon the cold, clay floor; but no
sooner was it sprinkled by the blood of the three
GAELIC FOLK TALES
kings than they sprang to their feet with exult-
ing cries. The spell was indeed broken, and joy-
fully embracing each other the freed heroes gave
thanks to Neid, the god of battle, for their re-
lease.
But danger still threatened, and Finn’s first
thought was to provide against it. Said he:
“The venom of these odious spells has withered
our strength, so that we are not able to fight,
but at sunrise they will lose their power,” and
returning to Dyna and Fatha he told them that
they must guard the ford until the rising of the
sun, when he and his knights should have re-
covered their strength.
A few who had escaped from the last battle
at the ford brought back tidings to Sinsar of the
fate of the Three Kings. But of the release of
those who had been spellbound in the Palace of
the Quicken Trees they could not tell, as they
did not know that it had taken place.
When Borba, the Haughty, had heard the ac-
count of defeat and death at the ford, he arose
and said: “Feeble warriors were they who tried
to cross this ford. Hither I shall now go, and
when I return will bring the head of Finn, the
son of Cumal, and place it at my father’s feet.”
Neid [Na].
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES 239
And marshaling his warriors without delay
Borba marched forth; and when Dyna and Fatha
saw the dark mass drawing nigh they longed in
their hearts for morning. Not of themselves
they thought, for they had never trembled be-
fore any foe, but they feared the danger for Finn
and his warriors.
Again an unequal fight was filling the ford
with slaughter. But soon the sun rose over the
broad plain of Kenri, and as its first rays glinted
from their lances the withering spell went forth
from the bones and sinews of the heroes who
had been imprisoned in the palace of the Quicken
Trees. Joyfully they snatched up their arms and
hastened down to the ford. But Dathkin, the
strong limbed, they sent to take the news to
Oisin at Knockfierna.
The beams of the risen sun now glittered
bright on helmet and sword-blade and as the
fight went on, Gaul, son of Morna, slew Borba,
the Haughty.
A messenger brought the news of his son’s
death to Sinsar and his people. Cries of sor-
row went up on all sides; but the king conceal-
ing his grief, summoned his whole host and
marched them toward the battlefield of the ford.
240
GAELIC FOLK TALES
When the messenger to Knockfierna had told
his story, the entire body of heroes there en-
camped set out for the Palace of the Quicken
Trees, and arrived on the hill-brow over the ford
just as Sinsar and his army approached from
the opposite side.
And now the fight ceased for a while and the
two armies were put in battle array; and, on
neither side was there any desire to avoid the
combat.
The Feine were divided into four battalions:
Clan Baskin; Clan Morna; Clan Smoil and Clan
Navnan, and together they marched forward
under their silken banners. Their helmets were
bright with precious gems, their broad, beauti-
ful shields they bore on their* left shoulders;
their keen edged swords hung at their left sides
and they held their deadly lances in their hands.
And when they closed in conflict such display
of valor had never before been seen in Eire.
Oscar, resting for a moment from the toil of
battle, looked around and saw Sinsar guarded
by his best warriors. Rushing through the op-
posing ranks he drew near the king. Sinsar
laughed grimly when he saw him, for he was
glad in his heart expecting to revenge his son’s
Baskin; Gaelic, Baoiscene.
FAIRY PALACE OF QUICKEN TREES
241
death by slaying with his own hand Finn’s
grandson.
Then these two great heroes fought a deadly
battle and in the end, Oscar, with a blow that
no shield or buckler could withstand, swept the
head from Sinsar’s body. Seeing this a shout
of triumph went up from the Feine, and the
foreigners instantly gave way pursued and slain
on every side. A few threw away their arms
and escaped to the shore; and, hastily unmoor-
ing their ships, sailed swiftly away to their
own country, and the winds of Eire blowing
across the waters bore to their ears the music of
a triumphant Dord Fian.
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